lihvM^ 0f €mpt^^. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



LECTURES 



SYMBOLIC CHAKACTEE 



SACEED SCEIPTUEES. 



BT 

REV. ABIEL SILVER, 

MINISTER OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH IN NEW YORK. 



♦* The words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life.** 
•♦ Without a Parable spake He not unto them.*' 



NEW YORK. 
D. APPLETON AND COMPACT, 



443 & 445 BROADWAY. 
1863. 








i.ra 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S63, bj 

ABIEL SILVER, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the South m 

District of New York. 



23 113 



PEEFACE. 



These Lectures were not written with a view to their be- 
ing printed, but were designed as simple and plain lessons of 
instruction to those not acquainted with the symbolisms of the 
Word. And they are now permitted to go to the press only 
at the solicitation of many who have heard them. 

They were delivered during the past winter, in the city of 
New York, to audiences in which there were many strangers, 
and no two congregations were alike. This made it necessary 
to refer frequently to the relation which exists between spirit- 
ual things and natural things, alluding often to First Principles 
and their effects, and thus keeping the Law of Analogy con- 
tinually before the mind. 

I am now asked to give them to the public, as they were 
delivered, under the suggestion that the repetitions they con- 
tain, will be no more than minds, unacquainted with the 
Science of Correspondences, may need to enable them to easily 
understand them. And I accede to the request, assuring the 
reader, whoever he may be, who has not looked into the spir- 
itual sense of the Holy Word, that if ha has a desire to do so, 
and will study the Science of Correspondences, and read these 
simple illustrations of the Sacred Scriptures, with a sincere 
desire to become acquainted with the Word of God, that he 



4 PREFACE. 

may the better know his heavenly Father, his own soul, and 
the true way of life, that he may walk in it, the Lord will 
open to his mind a new field of thought, and lead him to a 
Fountain of heavenly Wisdom which he will prize more valu- 
able than all things else ; for he will find therein the true life 
of heaven. That he may do so is the prayer of 

THE AUTHOR. 
New York, Aprils 1863. 



CONTENTS- 



CHAPTER I. PAGE 

Eeasons why the literal sense of the Word of God must sym- 
bolize a higher sense. John vi. 63 9 



CHAPTER IL 

The origin of Language, and the law of the Divine Symbols. 

Ps. xix. 3 29 



CHAPTER m. 

The Scripture Analogy between the material universe and 

the himian mind. Zeph. iii. 9 47 

CHAPTER IV. 

The divine law of life between God, Man and Nature. Ps. 

cxiv. 1, 2, 3 63 

CHAPTER Y. 

The correspondence of birds and animals to the thoughts and 

affections of man. Ezek. xxxix. 17-20 81 



CHAPTER YI. 
The symbolic meaning and use of Horses. Rev. xix. 11-14. .. 98 



6 CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. PAGE 

The correspondence of Trees to the things of the mind. 

2 Kings xiv. 9 115 



CHAPTER YIII. 

The symbolic meaning of the Heavens and the Earth, Sun, 

Moon and Stars. Matt. xxiv. 29 131 

CHAPTER IX. 

The first chapter of Genesis in its spiritual import — the crea- 
tion of man. Gen. i. 27 149 

CHAPTER X. 

The first chapter of Genesis, in its practical bearing upon 

the regeneration of Man in all ages. Gen. i. 28 166 



CHAPTER XL 

A glance at the second chapter of Genesis, and at the making 

of the woman of the rib of the man. Gen. ii. 18-23 186 



CHAPTER XII. 

The correspondence of Water, and the divine teachings 

thereby. Rev. i. 15 205 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The nature and character of the Mosaic deluge. Gen. viii. 
8,9 221 

CHAPTER XIY. 

A spiritual view of Cain, Abel and Seth ; of Cain's wife, 

and of the building of the city of Enoch. Gen. iv. 17 . , 241 



CONTENTS. 7 

CHAPTER XY. page 

A general glance at tlie whole subject of these Lectures — 
God, Man and Nature, and their relative connection. 
Gen. i. 1 257 



CHAPTER XYI. 

How the Science of Correspondences has been restored, and 
the Spiritual Sense of the Word and its Doctrines re- 
vealed. Rev. xxi. 5 272 



CHAPTER I. 

REASONS WHY THE LITERAL SENSE OF THE WORD OF 
GOD MUST SYMBOLIZE A HIGHER SENSE. 

" The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they 
are life.'' (John vi. 63.) 

We are now commencing a course of lectures upon 
the symbolic character of the Sacred Scriptures, or of 
the Divine Language. But, are we truly sensible of what 
we are undertaking ? Are we, indeed, conscious that 
the language we purpose to explain is infinite, that 
God's words must contain infinite ideas, and that, to 
fully comprehend them, would require the wisdom of 
the great Jehovah — a capacity so far beyond the reach 
of men or angels ? All this we fully believe. And we 
also believe, that we can learn to appreciate the mean- 
ing and force of God's language, only in degrees ac- 
cording to our states ; and that we can do this properly, 
only as we become acquainted with God's nature and 
character. For if we would enter into the real life and 
spirit or any book, we must know the qualities and 
character of the author ; for the real author lives in 
his words and his works. And, as from the language 
of men, we are introduced to a knowledge of their 



10 THE LITERAL SENSE A 

minds ; so, from the language of God, we may become 
somewhat acquainted with the will and wisdom of our 
heavenly Father. For God lives in his language. The 
words which He speaks, ^^ They are spirit and they 
are life.'' And that spirit and life are God Himself in 
His wisdom and love. 

But what is the divine language ? In its broadest 
sense it is everything that manifests the Lord's qual- 
ities. He is the author of everything ; he lives in 
everything, and speaks in everything, either directly 
or indirectly. But His speech is understood according 
to the state and ability of the reader. Some see it in 
the light of divine wisdom, and understand it aright to 
the extent of their capacity. Others see it in the light 
of their own self-derived intelligence, and understand 
it not as it really is, but only as it appears to them 
to be. 

But it is of the nature and character of God's re- 
vealed Word, rather than of the book of Nature, that 
we are to speak this evening ; and more particularly, 
of the reasons why that Eevelation must possess a sym- 
bolic or spiritual sense distinct from the literal sense. 
But in doing this, and in all our lectures, we shall 
aim, not so much at the profundity and depth of the 
divine Wisdom and Word, as at its simplicity and 
plainness. For everything perfect and divine is in 
itself deep and obscure ; far deeper than finite minds 
can fathom. Human wisdom can never reach the start- 
ing point, so as to comprehend the full cause of any- 
thing ; for Infinity is involved in that. Our efforts, 
therefore; in these lectures, will be to simplify and 



SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL. 11 

bring the real^ spiritual tilings out from their secret en- 
foldings, into the plain daylight of the reasoning fac- 
ulties of man's natural mind ; where he can see them 
in the light of science, take hold of them with the arm 
of his judgment, turn them over and about, and look 
at them on all sides, in the relation they bear to one 
another, to man and to their Creator. 

Now the first and perfectly conclusive reason, why 
the Holy Word contains a spiritual sense within the 
literal, is seen in the law of analogy, which pervades 
the entire Word, and which shows the relation between 
spiritual and natural things ; between the world of 
mind and the world of matter ; between God and na- 
ture ; between the mind of man and the universe of 
things. But this argument has no weight with a per- 
son, who is not acquainted with this law of analogy, 
or science of correspondences. This argument, there- 
fore, we cannot use in this evening's discourse, as our 
lectures are designed for persons unacquainted with 
that science. But it will gradually present itself as 
the truth and beauty of that science are seen and un- 
derstood, as the law is applied to the illustrations of 
the Word, as we proceed with these lectures. For the 
science of correspondences is the great rational test of 
the divinity of the Sacred Scriptures. By means of it 
are clearly understood the history of the Creation, the 
Garden of Eden, the Fall, the Flood, the Prophecy of 
Ezekiel, the Second Coming of the Lord, the Descent 
of the. New Jerusalem, and the wonderful things de- 
clared in the Apocalypse. Upon the truth of this sci- 
ence, as an infallible key to the otherwise hidden 



12 THE LITERAL SENSE A 

beauty and glory of the divine Word, the receivers of 
the doctrines of the New Church are ever ready to rest 
the entire question of their new religious faith. 

Does any one disbelieve or doubt, that the Lord, as 
the '' Word/' which was in the beginning with God 
and was God, and which was manifest in the flesh, is 
now actually making his second coming in the spiritual 
or internal sense of the Word, for the establishment of 
a new religious order of things, which will eventually 
bring all to see eye to eye, do away with all sin and 
contention among men, and really make all things 
new ? — I say, does any one disbelieve or doubt this ? — 
Let him test the ground of his unbelief by the truth or 
falsehood of the science of correspondences. We court 
this test of all who candidly desire to understand the 
Holy Word. For, of the result of such an investiga- 
tion, we have not the least doubt. We ourselves (with 
thousands of others) have weighed the ground of our 
own former unbelief in the same balance, and found it 
wanting. And all, who have ever sincerely examined 
into the merits of this science, have come to the same 
conclusions, and alike understood the doctrines of the 
sacred Word. The reason of their agreement is, that 
correspondences are a real science. For, as the science 
of geometry, by the light of natural truth, brings every 
close investigator of its principles to the same results 
in the solution of its problems ; so, also, does the sci- 
ence of correspondences by a higher, and yet, equally 
philosophical light, bring all its true and faithful in- 
vestigators to the same conclusions as to the doctrines 
of the Word. For all truths are eternal verities. 



SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL. 13 

They are ever and unchangeably the same. About 
them, when seen, men do not differ. It is about false- 
hoods, and where truths are not seen, that the intel- 
lectual world is contending. 

The doctrines of the Word, when seen in the light 
of correspondences, become themselves the indisputa- 
ble evidence of their own truth. This is the reason 
why the students of this science agree in divine things. 
And it is the very reason why the watchmen, at the sec- 
ond coming of the Lord, Ifre to '^ see eye to eye.'' 

The science of correspondences is a language. It 
may be denominated the language. For it is the 
sure language of Jehovah. It is therefore a living lan- 
guage. It is the only language that has spirit and 
life. It is a universal language : the language in 
which not only the Holy Word speaks, but the moun- 
tains and streams, the winds and the ocean ; yea, earth 
and skies and universal nature with her ten thousand 
tongues are speaking to us. Does any one doubt the 
existence of such a language ? Let him learn to read 
it. No one who has ever learned it has any such doubts. 
Does he say no one ever has learned it ? How does he 
know that ? Thousands of persons, entitled to re- 
spect, say they have studied it, and find it to be a 
most sure and certain language. Where, then, rests 
the weight of evidence ? Who is the best judge of a 
book, he that has read it, or he that has not ? 

By this science, the Sacred Scripture is convincingly 
proved to be the Word of the Infinite Jehovah. All 
its parts thereby blend into harmony. The darkest 
and most obscure passages are opened and explained ; 



14 THE LITERAL SENSE A 

and the simplest portions are filled with profound wis- 
dom. Every passage is^ indeed, seen to be ^^ Profitable 
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction 
in righteousness'^ (2 Timothy iii. 16), according to the 
apostle's declaration. But without this science, has 
any one found it to be so ? If the Bible was given by 
God to man to teach him something, was it not in- 
tended to be understood ? Has God endowed man 
with reason, addressed him as a reasonable beino- said 
to him, ^^ Come now, and let us reason together'' 
(Isaiah i. 18), given him His Word as a rule of life, to 
show him what he must do and what he must not, and, 
at the same time, interspersed throughout the Word 
thousands of things which he can never understand, 
and which are of no use to him ? Not so. Infinite 
Wisdom has not so indefinitely expressed Himself that 
He cannot be understood 

The difficulty is with man. He, by a false and evil 
life, has lost the pure language of analogy in which 
God speaks. But, by the divine mercy of the Lord, 
that language is again restored. That sublime key to 
the inexhaustible treasury of intellectual wealth con- 
tained in the Word and Works of God is now merci- 
fully made known. The great seminary of scientific 
wisdom has become accessible to man. For this divine 
key not only unlocks God's book of Eevelation, but 
also, at the same time. His book of Nature. And as 
we are thereby conducted within the veil of the letter 
of the Word, and permitted to feast upon the pure 
bread and water of life, and to admire the glory and 
beauty of that divine sanctuary ; so we have, also, a 



SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL. 15 

passport within the veil of universal nature, where we 
find, enthroned, pure spiritual philosophy, expounding 
the invisible ligaments which unite heaven and earth ; 
elucidating those otherwise incomprehensible affinities 
which exist between life and matter, God and nature, 
the mind and the brain, the soul and the body. In 
passing this veil, we enter the School of all schools, 
look up to the Teacher of all teachers, and study the 
Science of all sciences. The books we read are the 
Books of all books — the book of Nature and the book 
of Eevelation. They are books published by the same 
Author, they illustrate the same principles, and lead 
to the same conclusions. Both books are necessary to 
the proper study of either. All the objects in nature, 
are so many indices, pointing to the history of their 
creation, and the cause of their existence ; and refer us 
for information to the written Word, to which they 
are the grand concordance. At such a seminary, with 
such books, and such a Teacher, we may obtain heav- 
enly wisdom and feast on angels' food. 

But, to a mind unimbued with the science of corre- 
spondences, what we have said are mere assertions 
rather than reasons. Let us, then, assign some reasons 
why the Holy Word has a spiritual sense within the 
letter. And, first, it is because it contains divine 
thoughts and feelings, which are infinite in wisdom 
and love. Now, the literal sense is in man's language. 
The meaning of the words of that language is limited. 
Men understand their full import. There must, there- 
fore, be a sense within and above the literal definitions 
of the terms, or it is the language of men only, and 



16 THE LITERAL SENSE A 

not of Grod. And the Lord Himself declares that there 
is such a sense^ when He says to us, ^' The words that 
I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life/' 
For He made this declaration to teach men, that He 
does not mean by the words ' flesh and blood,' what 
they are defined to mean in man's language ; but that 
He means infinitely more. For spirit and life are in- 
finite and eternal things ; such things as He desires to 
feed our souls with, that they may live for ever. Now, 
if we know that ' flesh ' is a symbol of goodness, and 
^ blood ' a symbol of truth, we have, at once, a definite 
though limited understanding of what the Lord there 
means, and it is highly interesting and instructive. 
But, otherwise, we cannot distinctly understand what 
He does mean, by eating His flesh, and drinking His 
blood. And the correspondences here are exceedingly 
beautiful. Our physical man is composed, principally, 
of flesh and blood : our spiritual man, if in order, is 
composed of goods and truths. Thus ; there is a per- 
fect correspondence between the mind and the body. 
Now, it is because the natural substances, of which the 
body is composed, correspond to the spiritual substan- 
ces of which the mind is composed, that the mind and 
body can be united and exist together. 

Again, all spiritual life is by means of the union of 
goodness and truth ; and all physical life, by means 
of the union of flesh and blood. Therefore, if we well 
understand the science of correspondences, we may 
know, from the fact that, as the drawing of the blood 
from the flesh produces physical death ; so, also, the 
separation of goodness and truth in the mind produces 



SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL. 17 

spiritual death. We must love the truth, or die spir- 
itually. And so the natural things which we eat and 
drink to supply flesh and blood to the physical man 
and keep it alive^ have their perfect correspondences in 
the goods and truths which the Lord says the mind 
must eat and. drink, or have no life in it. Thus, with 
this scientific light, the mind is illuminated, the soul 
cheered, and the heart refreshed ; but without it, that 
beautiful Scripture is involved in clouds of uncertainty, 
and its richest blessings are unenjoyed. And when we 
further know, that evils and falsities are goods and 
truths perverted, and that such substances, when taken 
into the mind, poison the aft'ections and thoughts, and 
make the soul diseased, we may also know that the 
poisonous substances of the earth, to which those evils 
and falsities correspond, will, when taken into the 
body, make it also sick and diseased. ^ Flesh and 
blood,' therefore, when mentioned in the Word, may 
mean, either things good and true, or things evil and 
false, according to the sense in which they are used. 
With this scientific light in the mind, the true use of 
the words ^ flesh and blood,' wherever expressed 
throughout the entire Word, may be readily seen ; and 
thus. Scripture, otherwise dark and obscure, will emit 
a clear and certain light. 

Now, there is much said, in the Word, of ' blood,' 
and of ' innocent blood ;' of ^ shedding innocent hlood;* 
of ' taking away innocent hlood;' of ' condemning inno- 
cent hlood;^ of ^ putting away the guilt of innocent 
blood;' of ^betraying innocent blood;' of ^sinning 
ao-ainst innocent blood.' And yet, there can be no such 



18 THE LITERAL SENSE A 

thing as innocjence^ or guilty in material blood. This, 
everybody must know. All understand that it is the 
mind that is innocent, and not the blood. Blood is 
therefore used because it denotes a living principle of 
the mind. And it is only because truth filled with 
love is the very life of an innocent mind, and blood, as 
the life of the body corresponds to that life, that the 
blood of such a person is said to be innocent. It is 
declared in Isaiah that, " The sword of the Lord is 
filled with blood'' — an expression which strikes terror 
to many minds ; and yet, its real meaning is beautiful 
and consoling. The sioord of the Lord always signi- 
fies the divine truth of the Word, in its powers to con- 
quer and destroy evils and falsities. Therefore a 
sword is said to go out of the mouth of the Lord, be- 
cause he speaks the truth. '^ The sword of the adver- 
sary,'' mentioned in the Word, signifies falsehood. For 
the Devil is " A liar, and the father of it." Then the 
phrase, ^^The sword of the Lord is filled with blood," 
would read, by correspondence, ^^The truth of the 
Word is filled with life." Sivord denoting truth, and 
blood life. 

Another reason why the Word must contain a spir- 
itual sense is, because, without it, that Word seems, in 
many places, to directly contradict itself, and cannot 
be reconciled, but by the spiritual sense. But in the 
light of the spiritual sense, all is made rational and 
clear, beautiful and instructive. For example, the 
Lord commands us, saying, ^^Thou shalt not kill;" 
and yet, he says again, '' Cursed be he that keepeth 
back his sword from blood." (Jer. xlviii. 10.) Both 



SYMBOL OF THE SPIKITUAL. 19 

passages are fuU^ open, and unqualified ; and are ap- 
plicable to every man. Without the spiritual sense 
they cannot be reconciled. But by the science of cor- 
respondences, we see that, besides the death of the nat- 
ural body, there are two kinds of death, two kinds of 
life, and two kinds of killing, treated of in the Word. 
There is the life of the love of good, and the life of the 
love of evil : one is heavenly life, and the other is hel- 
lish life. If we die unto the love of good, we become 
alive unto the love of evil : this was the fall of man. 
And so, if we die unto the love of evil, we become alive 
unto the love of good : this is regeneration. There- 
fore, the Lord says, '' He that findeth his life shall 
lose it : and he that loseth his life for my sake shall 
find it.^' (Matt. x. 39.) That is, he that findeth his 
spiritual life, shall lose his selfish life : and he that 
loseth his selfish life for the Lord's sake, shall find his 
true spiritual life. Then, if we refaember that blood, 
which is the life of the body, and corresponds to the 
life of the soul, may, when mentioned in the Word, 
denote either hellish life or heavenly life, according to 
the sense in which it is used, we shall at once, see the 
truth and the harmony of the two contradictory passa- 
ges mentioned above. In the first — ^' Thou shalt not 
kill,'^ we are commanded not only not to kill the body, 
but also, not to destroy any principle of goodness or 
truth in the soul : in the second, ^^ Cursed be he that 
keepeth back the sword from blood,'' we are taught, 
that, unless we conquer our evils — unless we shed the 
blood of our carnal life — our love of self, by the sword 
of the spirit — the divine truth — we shall be lost, or be 
curse. 



20 THE LITERAL SENSE A 

Again^ we read in the gospel of Matthew, ^^ They that 
take the sword, shall perish with the sword/' and also, 
the Lord says, " He that hath no sword, let him sell 
his garment and buy one/' (Luke xxii. 36.) Now, this, 
in the letter alone, is strange teaching. Who can 
know what it means ? We answer. No one, without 
the spiritual sense. Who can see why the Lord should 
command us to sell our garment and buy a sword, to 
perish with ? Men may say it is figurative language. 
And they will interpret the figures differently, accord- 
ing to their several tastes. But they must rest in un- 
certainty, till they see the spiritual sense. Then, they 
will have no doubt of its meaning. For that sense is 
definite and sure, reasonable and clear. ^' They that 
take the sword shall perish with the sword,'' therefore, 
means, that. They that take the sioord of the adversary y 
or falsity, and use it, will, by continuing their false- 
witnessing, destroy everything truthful and good in 
their souls ; and thus they will perish with the sword. 
While, on the other hand, he that has not commenced 
the regenerate life, who has no true sword of the spirit, 
must sell his garment of self-righteousness, must put 
away his filthy rags of covetousness and sin, and buy 
the sword of truth. Garments, which are the clothing 
of the body, denote the outermost deportment, or cloth- 
ing of the mind. And the outermost things of the 
sinful mind, are its most external, selfish, and worldly 
thoughts and actions. These must be put away before 
we can fully possess the sword of the spirit in our 
heart. 

Again in Isaiah, the Lord declares of His church 



SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL. 21 

that " They shall beat their swords into plow-shares, 
and their spears into pruning-hooks ; nation shall not 
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn 
war any more/' But soon after, in Joel, He says, 
'' Prepare war ; beat your plow-shares into swords, and 
your pruning-hooks into spears, and let the weak say, 
I am strong/' Now, God's Word is universal, reach- 
ing to all men. These commands are as applicable to 
us as they were to the Israelites and the Gentiles. 
How shall we obey them ? They command us, in the 
letter, to do two diametrically opposite things. And 
a command to do one thing forbids us to do the oppo- 
site. In the covenant to love our neighbor, we are 
bound not to hate him. The command, not to lie, in- 
cludes the behest to tell the truth. We must there- 
fore look beyond the letter to find what God would 
here teach us. But from what we have already said 
of the sword, it may readily be seen, that the swords 
and spears which we are to beat into plow-shares, and 
pruning-hooks, must be the swords and spears of the 
adversary, or false principles. But what are the plow- 
shares and pruning-hooks which we are to have in their 
stead ? The plow-shares must be those divine truths 
which will penetrate deep into the heart, and bring on 
a thorough repentance, and thereby plow, or, as it is 
<jalled in the Word, '' Break up the faUow-ground of 
the heart,'' that the seeds of truth may be sown in an 
humble and contrite soil. And the pruning-hooks are 
those watchful and corrective truths of the Word with 
which we may notice, and cut off the dead and unfruit- 
ful branches from the tree of our life. But what, then, 



22 THE LITERAL SENSE A 

are the plow-shares and pruning-hooks which we are 
commanded to beat into swords and spears ? They 
are, of course, the very opposites of the others. Tiie 
plow-shares are those false and contentious principles, 
which plow, or stir up the selfish feelings or soil of the 
natural heart, engendering strife and ill-will, and thus, 
preparing the ground to receive new and fresh seeds of 
falsehood and selfishness. And the pruning-hooks are 
those principles, opposed to truth and virtue, which 
are always ready to prune from the tree of spiritual 
experience, every good shoot it may send forth. The 
false plow-shares and pruning-hooks of the mind, must 
be converted into swords of truth, and spears of wis- 
dom, wherewith we may fight against the headstrong 
evils of humanity and subdue them. 

Again, David prays that the Lord will scatter all 
those that delight in war ; and yet he also says, 
^^ Blessed be the Lord my strength, who teacheth my 
hands to war, and my fingers to fight.'' (Ps. cxliv. 1.) 
These literal contradictions contain within them, spir- 
itual harmonies, which the science of correspondences 
only can reveal. By that science we see that David 
desires that the Lord would scatter all the wicked spir- 
its and evil j)rinciples that delight to war against 
things good and true, and that he blessed the Lord for 
teaching him, by the truth, how to fight against those 
evil influences. In all David's prayers to the Lord to 
destroy his enemies, he never means persons, but the 
evils which are in them and in himself. There is not 
a syllable in all the Psalms, when their true light is 
seen, that contradicts that beautiful precept of our 



SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL. 23 

Lord which says, ^^Love your enemies, bless them 
which curse you/' But this love has relation to the 
persons, and not to their evil principles. Evil princi- 
ples with their falsities are the only things to be hated. 
Against them our faces should be firmly set, wherever 
they are. 

Again, we are expressly commanded in the Word to 
Honor our father and mother ; and yet the Lord as 
expressly says, that if we do not hate them we cannot 
be His disciples. Now, without the spiritual sense, 
these statements are perfectly inexplicable ; no light 
has ever been thrown upon them, or evolved from 
them ; nor can there be any without the science of cor- 
respondences. We must see that the Bible, in its most 
essential meaning, treats of mental and spiritual things, 
and that pure, virtuous minds, or such principles of the 
mind, must have the divine Love and Wisdom for their 
Father and Mother. God, in the unity of his love and 
wisdom begets them ; and therefore, they are called 
children of God,: while on the other hand, corrupt and 
depraved minds, or such principles of the mind, must 
have evil and falsity for their father and mother. The 
Devil, or the love of evil aiad falsity in the complex, in 
the union of their ill-will and deceptiveness, begets or 
perverts them ; and therefore they are called children 
of the Devil, Thus heavenly Love and Wisdom are 
the Father and Mother we must honor ; and hellish 
eviland falsity are the father and mother Ve must hate 
and forsake ; while our own natural parents, and all 
human beings, we must love and try to do them good. 

Again, the joyous song of the angels at the birth of 



24 THE LITERAL SENSE A 

our Lord was, '^ On earth peace, good will toward 
men ;" and yet, the Lord says, '^ Think not that I am 
come to send peace on the earth : I came not to send 
peace, but a sword/' In the spiritual light, these an- 
gels and the Lord are both seen to be in harmony. 
The Lord is indeed the Prince of Peace ; and yet He 
is a God of war and of vengeance. But his warfares 
and vengeance are not against men, but against their 
evils. * Thus He comes to send the sword of truth that 
we may have peace through victory over our evils. 
For without the truth we can never know peace. 

Again, it is written in the Holy Word that, '' It re- 
pented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, 
and'' that ^^it grieved Him at His heart." It is also 
written, that '' God is not a man that He should lie, 
nor the son of man that He should repent." Now, 
how could Infinite Wisdom, Goodness and Perfection 
grieve ? How could He who knew all things from the 
beginning, and does all things right, do anything to 
repent of ? How could Infinity and Immutability — 
He who is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever — 
how could He repent ? His ways are not as our ways, 
nor are His thoughts as our thoughts. It is an appa- 
rent truth that God repents apd grieves ; those emo- 
tions can be felt only by man ; and when mentioned in 
reference to God they mean His mercy. The very es- 
sence of true repentance and grief are mercy and com- 
passion. These heavenly emotions belong to the Lord. 

In order to bring the letter of the Word down to 
the states of wicked men, God is often represented as 
being not what He really is, but rather, what He ap- 



SYMBOL OF, THE SPIRITUAL. 25 

pears to them to be. For this purpose He is repre- 
sented as possessing the depraved passions of men ; is 
said to be angry^ wrathful and revengeful. And it is 
often asked by persons who begin to see that those 
qualities cannot belong to a Being who is Love, why 
the Word was so written. And we answer, It was for 
the wisest and best of purposes. It was so written 
that it might be capable of teaching poor, natural, 
fallen, wrathful, revengeful man the way of life and 
salvation. To teach another we must come to his 
state, to the sphere of his understanding, to his lan- 
guage and mode of expression. Now, an angry man 
will believe those angry with him, who oppose him. 
He who will get angry at his children for disobeying 
him, or seek persecution and revenge upon those he 
thinks his enemies, would suppose that his God would 
do the same : and he would think it right that God 
should be angry and punish his enemies. This man, 
God comes to, in his Holy Word, according to his 
state. He warns him to ^^ Flee from the wrath to 
come,^^ and threatens him with damnation in hell. 
At the saine time He kindly tells him how to avoid 
these evils. He commands him not to steal, covet, 
and so forth. Now, the natural, wicked man knows 
it is wrong to steal, or deceive. He would punish any 
one that would steal from him. And in seasons of 
mourning, sickness, or other afflictions, he hears the 
Holy Word preached, and his own character comes up 
before him in a light which makes him shudder. He 
is afraid of the wrath to come, because he feels guilty 
and thinks he deserves it, and in a spirit of repentance, 

2 



26 THE LITERAL SENSE A 

he begins to amend his hfe and plead for mercy. Here, 
^^ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." 
But as he progresses, he gets the love of God which 
casteth out fear, and he now finds that God was not 
angry, but loved him all the while ; that it was Ms 
oioTi opposition to God which made it appear as though 
God were opposed to him, and which is the reason 
why the Word was so written. 

The words which the Lord speaks, they are spirit 
and they are life. But, for the natural man to see and 
understand anything of that spiritual life, they must 
be brought down into man's common words, as vessels 
or symbols through which they can be apprehended by 
analogy. And though those words have a literal mean- 
ing, and may give a correct literal history of events in 
this world, yet they also teach, by correspondences, a 
spiritual history of things in the world of mind. The 
human words are so selected and arranged by divine 
wisdom as to contain this spiritual sense. And in 
many instances, the literal events mentioned are only 
appearances, not realities, and are given for the sake 
of the spiritual sense. 

We should bear in mind, that we are in a world of 
appearances, that the real world is out of sight ; that 
in this world we, to a great extent, speak according to 
appearances. If we did not so speak, we could not be 
understood by the generality of mankind. We speak of 
looking through miles of space^ and of beholding the 
mountains and the spread-out landscape; and so it ap- 
pears ; while the reality is, that the image of the land- 
scape is brought by the light, and pictured upon the 



SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL. 27 

retina of the eye. We have looked through no space. 
We see not beyond the skin of our eyes. So^ we speak 
oi hearing the thunder from the clouds; but the drum 
of the ear makes the noise. We speak of the blue arch 
of heaven^ the vaulted shies ^ tJie revolving stars ^ and 
the setting sun : but there is no arch there ; the stars 
are stationary bodies ; and the sun does not set. We 
talk of the colors of objects; but the colors are from 
the varied positions of the rays of light. Things have 
no color. And the Holy Word speaks of such things, 
according to appearances^ because men's states re- 
quire it. 

Now to come to the reality of even these natural 
things we must have science. What do we know of 
nature without science ? And yet, God's Word comes 
to us, clothed in the habiliments of nature. It treats 
of invisible things. It teaches the nature and charac- 
ter of the Invisible God, of our own invisible being, 
and of the laws of the invisible world ; so that '^ The 
invisible things of God, from the creation of the world 
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that 
are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,'' But 
the Word cannot possibly teach this without science. 
The invisible things of God cannot be seen through 
tha things that are made without the science of corres- 
pondences, any more than we can understand the plan- 
etary systems without the science of astronomy. For, 
as we cannot understand the deceptive appearances in 
God's book of Nature without the deductions of natu- 
ral science, so, neither can we understand the apparent 
discrepancies and contradictions in God's book of Eev- 



28 THE LITERAL SENSE A SYMBOL^ ETC. 

elation without the spiritual science of corresponden- 
ces. And all who rightly study the Word by that sci- 
ence, alike receive the true doctrines of the Word, with 
as much certainty and harmony of sentiment, as they 
can the problems of Euclid, or any other scientific de- 
ductions. 

We have endeavored, in this discourse, to advance 
some reasons why the Word of God must have a spir- 
itual sense, and to show that dark and contradictory 
passages can thereby be reconciled and made plain. 
The age has now come, when the free inquiring mind 
demands a reason for what it is required to believe. 
And sach irreconcilable contradictions, as those we 
have cited, are causing many religiously disposed minds 
to begin to hesitate, and doubt the divine origin of the 
Bible. And thus, insinuating skepticism steals in upon 
their hearts step by step, till the blessed Word loses, to 
them, its divine sanctity and power. What- a consol- 
ing and joyous thought then, that there is now an op- 
portunity for such a mind, to become rationally con- 
vinced that there are no contradictions in the blessed 
volume, that all its parts are harmonious and consis- 
tent, that there is a glory and beauty beaming through 
the letter of every page and sentence, at the sight of 
which the scoffer becomes dumb, and the sincere skep- 
tic opens his mouth in humble praise and adoration of 
the blessed Jesus, and hugs the Holy Word to his 
bosom as heaven's best gift, and man's unfailing treas- 
ure ! ^^ Whoso is wise and will observe these things, 
even they shall understand the loving kindness of the 
Lord." 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE AND THE LAW OF THE DI- 
VINE SYMBOLS. 

'^ There is no speecli nor language where their voice is not 
heard." (Ps. xix. 3.) 

We are nov/ to take a general glance at tlie nature, 
origin, and use of language, and of the law of analogy, or 
language of correspondences. "What then is language ? 
It is any mode of expressing or conveying ideas ; 
whether by words, looks, actions, signs, symbols, fa- 
bles, metaphors, parables, representatives, or corre- 
spondences. Whence is language ? In its outward 
speech it is all from nature. From the things of the 
universe, and the life which is in them all, speech origi- 
nates. ^^ There is no speech nor language where their 
voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through 
all the earth, and their words to the endof the world.'' 

Let us then take a glance at Nature ; see what she 
is, how she speaks, and what she says. Now, there are 
two worlds, a spiritual world and a natural world. 
The spiritual world is the world of mind, and the nat- 
ural world is the world of matter. Mental things are 
composed of spiritual substance, and material things of 



30 THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE, 

natural substance. The world of mind is the world of 
causes, and the world of matter is the world of effects. 
And as there can be no effect without its cause ; so 
there can be nothing in the world of matter which has 
not its proper correspondent in the world of mind ; nor 
can there be anything in nature, which does not point 
for its origin to the sjoiritual world. 

What then do we mean by the science of correspond- 
ences ? What is it ? It is the law of analogy which 
shows the relation between these two worlds. Corre- 
spondence is not a metaphor of speech, nor a trope in 
language, but a universal law of creation and provi- 
dence. A metaphor, or simile is the mere resemblance 
which one natural thing may be thought to bear to- 
wards another, or towards a spiritual thing. Corre- 
spondences are the actual, effective relation which 
exists between spiritual and. natural things. It is a 
higher law than can exist between matter and matter, 
or spirit and spirit on the same plane. It is the 
union of inner things with outer ; or higher things 
with lower, and is the great law by which both the 
spiritual and natural worlds subsist from the Lord. 
For as an effect cannot exist without a cause, so nei- 
ther can a cause without an effect. Now, God is the 
great efficient cause of all things. Therefore, every 
created thing, whether human, animal, vegetable, or 
mineral, bears a correspondential relation, either di- 
rectly or indirectly, to some one of the infinite varieties 
of the divine principles. For the entire universe is an 
out-birth from God. It is not God. But it is the 
effect of God. God is the cause, and He fills the uni- 



AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 31 

verse with life. And it is because the effect is related 
to the cause that He can fill it with life. This relation 
is the law of analogy, and is the means of constantly 
holding the universe in existence. Suspend this law 
for one moment, and universal nonentity is the conse- 
quence. 

Now, the great end and object of the Creator in giv- 
ing existence to the universe was, the production of 
His own image and likeness in created intelligences 
whom He could for ever bless and make happy by His 
own goodness and truth, whereby they could know 
Him, and love Him, and thus be filled with heavenly 
bliss. But how can we know that God's object and 
effort in producing the universe was to bring forth His 
own image and likeness ? We can know it, because 
that law obtains throughout the whole universe of 
things. Everything that has life is in effort to pro- 
duce its kind. Grod has imparted that law of His own 
nature to all created, things. And the effort of all 
nature to carry out that law, emphatically bespeaks 
that principle in God. 

Now man, in true order, is in the general image and 
likeness of God. Any other created thing in true order 
is only an image of some principle or principles in God 
or in man. 

The order of the outward creation of the world was, 
from lower things to higher ; first minerals, then vege- 
tables, then animals, and finally man : thus orderly 
and gradually approximating by higher and purer 
organizations the real divine image, until God finally 
crowned the creation with man^ as the sum total and 



32 



embodiment of all things below him. When all but 
man was created^ and everything was in readiness to 
produce man^ the vast variety of things scattered all 
over, and throughout the universe, were but humanity 
in fragments : every single thing was an image of some 
jDrinciple which was to be in man ; and it took them 
all, combined, to make up the full man. Man could 
not exist until these things were created ; for upon 
them his body must subsist ; and through them his 
mind is to be educated. . And when all these materials 
were brought harmoniously together, in man, and all 
was pronounced good, the vast universe corresponded 
to man, and man to his Maker. 

Who cannot see that the things which God creates, 
must be, in their degree, like Him, so far as a finite 
thing can be like an infinite ? His love desires their 
creation, His wisdom devises the mode, and His power 
executes it. And they come forth, not out of nothing, 
but from Himself ; and He is the very life of their ex- 
istence. The withdrawal of His love from any created 
object, would at that instant destroy it. It takes the 
same power to sustain which it does to create. Pres- 
ervation is perpetual creation. 

Thus we see, that during the whole process of crea- 
ation, God was making man. God is the Infinite Man. 
And all things that he makes must be expressions of 
Himself as they come from His hands. But He can 
make nothing infinite. He cannot add to Himself. 
Infinity is all : everything is involved in it. The cre- 
ation of lower things is only a finite expression of qual- 
ities in the Divine Beino^. 



AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 33 

The highest individual image of God is the wisest 
and best man, or angel. But even that image is con- 
stantly being improved by the reception of further 
goods and truths for its ever-expanding mind and in- 
creasing wants. And the affectionate union of various 
wise and good minds into a society, imparting to each 
other what the Lord gives them, is a higher, and more 
full ima2:e than that of an individual. And this imao e 
will be forever improving by the constant advancement 
of each of its individuals, and by the continual accu- 
mulation of more individuals. For no two men are 
alike. Their various forms and qualities indicate the 
variety of the divine principles. Every addition, there- 
fore, to the Grand Man, supplies a deficiency in the 
general image, and makes it more full. But the per- 
fection of the original never can be reached : because 
Infinity never can exhaust Itself by giving forth new 
expressions of its parts, and filling them with life. 
The reason is, the Fountain is Infinite, and the human 
beings given off, or created from it, are only various 
finite expressions from it. 

But, to return to the period when in the process of 
the creation all things were in readiness for the produc- 
tion of man ; when the vast variety of human princi- 
ples lay scattered throughout the mineral, the vegeta- 
ble and the animal kingdoms, in living, speaking forms ; 
when all nature was a beautiful page of mental sym- 
bols in physical robes, without an admirer on earth ; 
with no created rational being to read the expressive 
characters of that wonderful book, and to love and 
worship the Author ; then it is that we behold Man, 

2'' 



34 THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE, 

making his appearance — Man, the sum total of the 
creation, the connecting link between God above him 
and nature below him, and thus, the crowning act of 
the creation. 

And as man was made above all other things in the 
scale of creation, by being endowed with rationality and 
freedom, and at the same time embracing within him- 
self all the various qualities of life which animated the 
natural world, therefore, life had thereafter to be sup- 
plied to nature through the medium of man. For life 
ever flows from God, through higher things into lower. 

But we have said that correspondence is the relation 
which an effect bears to a cause ; and it may be asked 
how the lower orders of creation could correspond to 
man, and yet be the first created. The reason is this : 
the principles which constitute a true man, always ex- 
isted in God. He is the infinite Man, and man is His 
finite image. In the eternal purposes of God, there- 
fore, man, in potency, and indeed every human being, 
always existed ; not as distinct created individuals, in 
self-consciousness ; but yet, in the divine mind, per- 
fectly distinct and objective ; for God is the infinite 
Man : and one of the fundamental laws of the spiritu- 
al world is the ultimation of internal qualities in object- 
ive forms. By this law there always went forth from 
Jehovah, and was manifest before Him, in substantial 
human form. His own image. This image was not 
Himself, but the outgoings of Himself for further ulti- 
mation in the actual creation of man. And, in bring- 
ing man down into nature as the created image of God, 
the lov/er orders of creation were the ultimated effects 



AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 35 

of those outgoing principles of humanity which consti- 
tute man. While^ therefore^ in point of time^ the low- 
er orders of things were first^ yet^ in spiritual reality, 
man/ in the full image of his Maker, was first, in the 
divine mind, in outward, substantial, objective form, 
though not in actual individual creation. And that 
substantial form was the medium cause, in the power 
of God through which the various principles of man's 
nature became ultimated in the world, and clothed with 
matter. 

Man, therefore, is the medium of conjunction and 
communication between the natural and the spiritual 
worlds, being in one, as to his soul, and in the other, 
as to his body. And, being the medium of life from 
God to lower things, he imparts his qualities to the 
divine stream, as it flows through him. Consequently, 
as man fell, the various things below man partook of 
his depravity, became changed and modified according 
to the various vicissitudes and changes of man's states 
and qualities. Thus, nature became corrupted through 
man's \dleness. The earth brought forth thorns and 
thistles ; the wild beasts became quarrelsome and fe- 
rocious ; serpents and reptiles, became poisonous and 
troublesome ; and hawks and owls, moles and bats, an- 
noyed the human race. 

Still, the world corresponded to man ; and sad, 
though faithful, was the tale it told of his conduct 
and vileness. The book of Nature still spoke to man 
with her ten thousand tongues, but how changed were 
many of her accents ! To the people of the primeval 
age, before the fall, all her tones were sweet and har- 



36 THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE, 

monious ; she spoke the sure Word of the living Grod. 
Therein they read the history of their creation, the 
character and laws of God, and the nature and quality 
of themselves. There was no truth which men needed 
to know that this book of nature did not teach or indi- 
cate. It was, to them, a medium of infinite wisdom. 
Upon what page soever their eyes rested, they saw, as 
by intuition, the true nature and character of the scene 
in its living aspect. So clearly did they look through 
nature up to nature's God, that the very names which 
they gave to the various objects of the creation indi- 
cated and expressed the peculiar quality and character 
of those objects. This book of nature was written in 
the pure language of analogy. They could read it in 
that language. It was a universal language, under- 
stood and read by all alike : for it spoke from life 
through qualities clearly indicated by their forms 
and uses. And it is now, as then, in itself a univer- 
sal language ; and all w^hp truly see it understand it 
alike. 

But the people of that golden age read not this lan- 
guage in the light of their own wisdom ; nor did they 
have to learn it, as we do, by the light of the Word 
through the study of the law of analogy. They had 
never sinned, they were the open and willing recipients 
of wisdom from their heavenly Father ; and, in that 
state, they could not mistake His teachings through 
nature, nor the language in which He spoke : for it 
was divine language, unchangeable and universal. It 
is the only language used in the spiritual world ; and 
in the full millennial day it will be universal again 



AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 37 

upon tlie earth, as it was before the fall. It is alike 
the language of nature and of Eevelation. 

The Holy Word, if correctly translated into all the 
various languages of the earth, would still have the 
one universal language of analogy pervading the whole 
work ; and in that light it would be read and under- 
stood alike by all. The various languages of men would 
be lost in the glory and beauty of the one divine speech. 

The reason why men, before the fall, saw the lan- 
guage of analogy by intuition is, because their wills 
and understandings were in harmony wHh the divine 
love and wisdom, and acted with them. Men had then 
but a mere shade of will and thought of their own. 
They had a self-hood, and were free ; and it appeared 
to them as though they saw and felt from their own 
knowledge and desire. They had not learned to exer- 
cise that self-hood against the divine order. Therefore 
they saw and enjoyed the divine light as though it 
were their own. And, for a long time, the language 
of correspondences w^as the only language of the earth. 

It was the first written language. When men first 
began to put their thoughts upon the barks and leaves 
of the trees, and the skins of beasts, they did it in the 
hieroglyphics of nature. They had no other language. 
Pictures of the objects in nature instead of the living 
originals became the expressive symbols of men's ideas. 
And there was no thought, feeling, passion, or propen- 
sity of the mind, which this language could not delin- 
eate to the life, and much more correctly than any 
other language could do it ; because man's spiritual 
qualities had given the very forms to the objects in 



38 THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE 



nature which would be selected to represent those 
qualities in man. The written language therefore, 
could not possibly be mistaken by any one who under- 
stood the science of correspondences, even at the pres- 
ent day. Did the j)eople of that age wish to express, 
upon parchment, any attribute or character of their 
Creator ; in the book of nature they saw Him in living 
lines, and any expression of His character could be 
delineated therefrom. Then, in very act and deed, 
^' The invisible things of God, from the creation of 
the world, were clearly seen, being understood by the 
things that were made ; even His eternal power and 
Godhead.'' And did they wish to correspond with 
their friends at a distance, or narrate a history of 
events, this mode of ^vnriting was amply sufficient. 

But, in the process of inventions, the period arrived 
when a new language from the use of sounds expressed 
by means of letters and words was invented and intro- 
duced into use. But even in this language men still 
conveyed their ideas, as before, by natural symbols : 
for though they did not paint any longer the objects 
of nature, yet they spelled and used the names of those 
objects, and therefore continued to look by correspond- 
ences, through the objects themselves for the quality 
of the ideas. For example : — they had been accus- 
tomed to paint the lamb for innocence, the serpent for 
subtlety, the hand for power, the eye for the under- 
standing, the heart for the will, the ear for obedience, 
the stars for knowledges, the moon for faith, the sun 
for love and sometimes for the Lord ; and so on. But 
now they used the names of these things, which con- 



AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 39 

vejed the same ideas. For the names of things always 
indicate their qualities. Indeed when these things re- 
ceived their names such names^ were given to them as 
signified^ by analogy^ their quality. So that the change 
in the mode of writing^ did not change in the least, 
the character of the language. It was still the lan- 
guage of correspondences — the language of God. And 
the names of the natural things, just mentioned, now 
signify in the Word what is stated. 

This is the true original language. And in this lan- 
guage of correspondences, Moses, a man skilled in all 
the wisdom of the Egyptians, v/rote the Pentateuch, in 
the Hebrew language, a language peculiar for the ex- 
pression of the qualities of things by their names. In 
no other language than that of correspondences could 
the Bible possibly contain the Word of God ; for no 
other language can have, in itself, ^^ Spirit and life/'^ 

But as man, by sinful habits, became less and less 
spirituaUy-minded, and gradually sank into sensuality 
and naturalism, so this sublime language lost its beauty 
and glory, until its gold became as dross and passed 
away ; but not without leaving its expressive memo- 
randums upon the pyramids of Egypt ; in the records 
of the Druids, in Oriental literature, in the fabulous 
stories of antiquity, in the idolatrous worship of the 
Gentiles, in Heathen Mythology, in German supersti- 
tions, in the poetry of all ages, and, even, faintly, in 
the present profane languages of the earth. 

But, from all these remains the spirit and life have 
departed ; and the consequence of the loss of this sci- 
ence iS; " Confusion of tongues'*' all over the earth. 



40 THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE, 

Men cannot now, certainly understand each other. 
Their words have no definite meaning. They quarrel 
from the want of a sure way of expressing their ideas. 
The hottest mental combats often end in the perception 
of the fact, that the parties both meant the same thing ; 
but misunderstood each other's words. Now, there 
can be no other sure and certain language than that of 
analogy. It is the language, because God's language. 
The confusion of tongues, at the building of the tower 
of Babel, v^as from the loss of this language ; for that 
confusion was spiritual. It was a confusion of thoughts 
as well as of words. Although that history appears short, 
yet it embraces a long period of time, during which 
men forsook the Lord's language or words of truth, 
and the true way of life, and undertook to build up a 
tower of their own self-hood, which could give them 
heaven in the light of their self-derived intelligence. 
And by this course, they finally lost the science of cor- 
respondences, and the true meaning of God's words. 
And then, as a matter of course, they misunderstood 
each other. They had no standard to go by. They 
contended among themselves about the truth of the 
Word, and consequently divided into parties and fac- 
tions, and scattered abroad. And hence, the innumer- 
able variety of languages, and of religious sects and 
conflicting creeds ; and even of divers opinions among 
individuals of the same sect, upon the meaning of 
God's Word. 

It is therefore from false, and not from true views 
of the Word, that men are divided. Truths are eter- 
nal verities. They are ever and unchangeably the same. 



AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS, 41 

And all truths are in harmony, and sustain each other. 
About them, when seen, men cannot differ. It is about 
falsities, altogether, that the Christian world is con- 
tending. Falsities are all dark, unstable, deceptive, 
and mysterious ; fit grounds for contention and strife, 
and for the proud display of self- wisdom ; and con- 
stant changes of opinion are and must be taking place 
among those who build upon such grounds : while 
those Avho build on the '^ Eock of ages'' — the spiritual 
tputh of the Word rationally seen in the light of anal- 
ogy, never can change their views, nor disagree in their 
doctrines, unless by sin they lose their language. 
"When this light is seen in the study of the Holy Word, 
it will as inevitably lead all sincere students of divinity 
to the same conclusions in every jot and tittle of the 
Word, so far as it is seen, as the light leads to the sun 
from which it flows. The reason is, the investigation 
is carried on by a scientific law, and that law is divine. 
The reason, therefore, why men who read the Word in 
the science of correspondences, differ not in its doc- 
trines, is the very reason why men differ not in mathe- 
matics ; it is because, in both instances, the truths are 
indisputable. If, as we believe, there are no two per- 
sons who, without the light of this science, agree as to 
the doctrines of the Word, and no two, who have it, 
that disagree, the question, as to its truth, becomes a 
startling one. 

Now we wish it distinctly understood, that this lan- 
guage or science was once universal ; that it has been 
lost, and is now revealed ] that the revelation has been 
made by the Lord himself in fulfilment of prophecy. 



42 THE OEluIN OF LANGUAGE 



and not by nny man ; that ^^ The Lion of the tribe of 
Judah . . . hath prevailed to open the book, and to 
loosp the seven seals thereof/' and has evolved this sci- 
ence from nature and the Holy Word, and not from the 
mind of any man ; and has caused its general elements 
and rules to be recorded in the works entitled the Ar- 
cana Celestia, the Apocalypse Eeyealed, and the 
Apocalypse Explained ; and that when we read 
these works, and learn this science, and behold its 
light, we obtain both the science and the light from 
the Holy Word, and from nature, and not from those 
works except as the light shines in them from the 
Word. 

As we read those wonderful books with an humble 
and teachable disposition the Holy Word comes up 
constantly before us with newly shining pages, whiiih 
grow brighter and brighter as we progress, until the 
heavenly harmony and beauty of the Word become so 
absorbing to the mind that we lose all sight of the 
writings we are reading, and the Word itself becomes 
its own interpreter — its own revealer of the divine law 
in which it is written. One passage throws its light 
upon another, and receives back the other's lustre in 
blending beauty, and their united blaze is responded to 
by a third, and all these are embraced by a fourth, and 
so on, till every sacred text we see becomes an evidence 
of the truth of all the rest, and the whole blessed Word, 
so far as we behold it, stands before us in symmetrical 
glory and beauty, a perfect whole, in an infinitude of 
parts, all in harmony. And though we are lost in the 
depth and immensity of its wisdom, yet, we are lost in 



AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 43 

light and not in darkness. And every advance we make 
in the regenerate life enables us to drink still deeper at 
this inexhaustible fountain of the water of life. 

Now, are there any persons present who are unac- 
quainted with this science ? let me affectionately invite 
you to turn aside and see this great sight, how the 
bush burns and is not consumed. "Would you have a 
view of the light of the sun of righteousness, as it shines 
from the interior of the Word, removing every obscur- 
ity from the letter, and reconciling all apparent contra- 
dictions ? come and take a scientific view of the divine 
language. Does infidelity at times trouble you with 
doubts, and would you see those doubts flee before the 
light of the Gospel like the fogs of the morning before 
the rising sun ? would you see the Holy Word in a 
light which will prove to you, beyond the possibility 
of a doubt, that it is the Word of the great Jehovah ? 
look at it in the light of correspondences. It is not a 
foreign light, brought to the Holy Word to enable us 
to see its teachings. It is its own scientific light, 
beaming from its own pages. Would you be able to 
close the mouth of the skeptic by truths iiTCsistible, 
when he scoffs at the serpent's tempting Eve and talk- 
ing with her ; or at the woman's being made of the 
rib ; or asks you how long the seventh day was on 
which the infinite Grod rested ; or who was Cain's wife, 
and where he found her ? stop not at the surface of 
the word, but look within. Would you see the ladder 
which Jacob saw extending from earth to heaven, and 
would you hold communion with God thereon ? you 
may find it in the Holy Word ; it is the relation be- 



44 THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE, 

tween cause and effect ; it is that sublime way which 
leads through nature up to nature's God. Would you see 
the wonderful vesture of our Lord^ woven without seam 
from the top throughout ? you must see the spiritual 
sense of the Word in its perfect harmony and oneness ; 
while the letter, or outward garments, are parted among 
so many sects. Would you see the burning bush un- 
consumed ? you must see the literal sense of the Word 
shining with inward fire, or brilliant with spiritual 
truths from the love of God. Would you, like Moses, 
turn aside to see this great sight, how the bush burns and 
is not consumed ? Come not to gratify idle curiosity, 
come with an humble and teachable disposition, desi- 
rous to know what God says to you, that you may 
obey Him ; for like that venerable lawgiver, you may 
spiritually hear God call unto you ^^ Out of the midst 
of the bush,'' saying, '^ Draw not nigh hither : put off 
thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou 
standest is holy ground." (Ex. iii. 4, 5.) The shoes, 
Y/hich are the clothing for the feet, denote the lowest 
and most outward things of the mind — our carnal pro- 
prium. This must be put off before we can truly appre- 
ciate the internal sublimity and beauty of the Word. 

The spiritual sense is the sanctum sanctorum of the 
Word, where we may hold communion with Him who 
is ^^ Of purer eyes than to behold iniquity." We may 
see something of the natural j)hilosophy of this sense 
by the science of correspondences while we are in a nat- 
ural and selfish state of mind ; but, to feel it in our, 
hearts, and see its inner glories, we should approach it 
with a suitable sense of the great distance between our 



AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 45 

own state and the purity of its teacliings. We should 
come then, with humility and meekness, praying to the 
Lord that He will open our understandings, that we 
may behold the wonderful things written in the Law. 
And, if we have truly sincere desires, a lively faith and 
ardent hope, and look into the Law of analogy with 
elevated understandings, rationally opened to receive 
instruction in a reasonable way, we shall behold, and 
understand the wonder which St. John saw — ^^ A wo- 
man clothed with the sun, and the moon under her 
feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars :'' or, 
in other words, we shall see \^ The holy city. New Je- 
rusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, pre- 
pared as a bride adorned for her husband :'' or, in still 
other words. The church of God, with its doctrines 
shining in spiritual light ; for the Lord God and the 
Lamb are the hght thereof. 

Doubting not that this New Church is the very thing 
now needed and designed to prevent the universal reign 
of skepticism, to restore reverence for the Holy Word, 
to open, elevate and enlighten the human mind, that 
it may overcome and put away the love of self and the 
world which now so universally reign, and become filled 
with the love of God and the neighbor, and be happy ; 
I appeal to you, as you value order, light, love, peace, 
purity, and heaven, to examine these things. 0, turn 
not away from this call ; for it is a call to a true 
^^ Feast of reason and flow of soul.'' We call you to 
no instantaneous reception, in a way you will not know 
how, of something you will not know what. We invite 
you to look at nothing unreasonable, and to believe 



46 THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE^ ETC, 

nothing you cannot nndei*stand. Come^ then^ to the 
Fountain of Wisdom, and drink the truth into your 
souls understanding! y. Come willingly, come cheer- 
fully, come inquiringly. '' The Spirit and the bride 
say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And 
let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let 
him take the water of life freely/' (Kev. xxii. 17r) 



CHAPTEE III, 

THE ANALOGY BETWEEN THE UNIVERSE AND THE 

MIND. 

" For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they 
may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one 
consent." (Zeph. iii. 9.) 

We are to glance this evening at the Scripture anal- 
ogy between the material universe and the human mind. 
This analogy is strikingly manifest^ everywhere in the 
Holy Word^ by the science of correspondences — the sure 
language of Grod — in which that Word is written^ and 
which^ according to the prophecy of our text^ the Lord 
promises to make known to the people. This promise 
is now being fulfilled. The Lord is now turning to the 
people a pure language, that they may all call upon 
the name of the Lord, and serve Him with one con- 
sent. There was a time when there was but one lan- 
guage upon the earth. The Lord declares in the 11th 
chapter of Genesis that, '' The whole earth was of one 
language, and of one speech.'' And again He says, in 
the same chapter, '^ Behold, the people is one, and 
they have all one language.'' 

Now, it is certain that that language has been lost. 



48 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 

The people are not all of one speech now. Nor are the 
people of any one language all of one speech, in that 
language. Indeed there are no two persons of any one 
language, that understand that language alike. The 
reason is, the language itself has no stability nor sure 
definiteness. This is because it has lost its roots. 
True, the language we use purports to take root in 
many others. But these languages themselves, and even 
those of them which are called dead, or fixed languages, 
have, to men, lost their roots. Nature is the ground 
in which all true language takes root. And the law 
of analogy is the only light in which that root can be 
truly seen. We know the dead languages are not fluc- 
tuating and changing like those in common use. But 
the reason is, they are not used. It is to the conserva- 
tive nature of the Hebrew and Greek languages, that 
we are indebted for so correct a knowledge of the Holy 
Word as we now have. And it is therefore of the di- 
vine Providence that they became dead, that they could 
better preserve the Word. Those languages still take 
root in nature. But men, by the loss of the science of 
correspondences, see not where, nor how that root ex- 
ists. Hence the uncertainty which hangs over the pre- 
cise meaning of many things in even those languages ; 
and particularly in the Holy Word, where many things 
are written solely for the sake of the spiritual sense, 
and therefore where no shadow of a rational meaning 
can be seen without the law of analogy. 

But the Lord says, prophetically, in our xext, 
pointing to this age of the world, ^^Then will I 
turn to the people a pure language, that they may 
all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him 



THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 49 

•with one consent/' Now what can this pure language 
be, in which all the people will call upon the name of 
the Lord, to serve Him with one consent, unless it be 
a language which will give them all the same ideas of 
God and of His Word ? and also, unless it be that 
very language which the people had, when the whole 
earth was of one speech, and all called on the name of 
the Lord ? And who that sees the science of corre- 
spondences, and reads the Word by it, can doubt that 
the time has now come, in which that prophecy is be- 
ing fulfilled, when he sees persons of every nation and 
kindred and tongue and people embracing this lan- 
guage, reading the Holy Word by it, understanding it 
alike, and beholding therein the Lord Jesus Christ, as 
the one Lord, whom they can all serve with one con- 
sent ? And what other language can the Lord turn 
to the people than the one they have before had, and 
which He gave them ? He says He will turn to the 
people a pure language. What is a pure language ? 
It is certainly something above human, like its Divine 
Author it must be divine, definite, and sure — the same 
yesterday, to-day, and forever. Such is the language 
of analogy ; and such is no other language. 

Let us then continue our investigations into the na- 
ture, origin, and use of that language ; that we may see 
the relation between the physical universe and the hu- 
man mind. The ancient Greeks called man a microcosm^ 
or little world. They considered him an epitome of the 
macTocosnij or the great world or visible system. This 
was from correspondence ; and although this word mi- 
crocosm — this comprehensive and graphic ex-oression 

3 



50 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 

of human nature has^ for a long time, been considered 
fabulous, and has become nearly obsolete, though still 
retained in English dictionaries ; yet it is, at this day, 
rising from obscurity, replete with meaning, and speak- 
ing with light and life. And many are now investigat- 
ing, with admiration and delight, the countless volumes 
of mental philosophy contained in this one word micro- 
cosm^ it being expressive of the embodiment of all the 
elements of the universe in man, as the connecting link 
between God and nature. 

Man, then, being a microcosm ; what is there, what 
can there be, in God's Word or His works, that does 
not treat of man, and also of God, the infinite man, 
the great eternal prototype of all created things ? 
This view of the subject furnishes us, at once, with 
the reason why God, in giving us His Word to teach 
the way of life, has written that Word in the symbols 
of nature ; for that language, like its Author, has a 
divine character ; its essence is the life of the universe, 
ever flowing from God, and well might He say, ^' The 
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they 
are life.'' God's language, therefore, is as much supe- 
rior to man's language as His works are superior to 
man's works, or, as He Himself is superior to man. 
His language, could we read it all, would teach us all 
things ; for everything that God does speaks ; and a 
single sentence, or even v/ord of His, contains an infi- 
nite /ariety of things. It is a part of everything. 
Thus, it is infinite in its essence, in its qualities and 
in its relations. And by the relation which every part 
of the Holy Word bears to all the other parts, the 



THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 51 

whole and all its parts may be proved to be true ; for 
every part has God in it in His wisdom and love, and 
therefore we may learn from it forever ; for God is 
perfect in the least things as well as' in the greatest. 
And though our minds are lost in its unfathomable 
depths, and insurmountable heights ; yet, to our con- 
solation and joy, we are lost in light and not in dark- 
ness ; for we are in the midst of an infinity of truths, 
each corroborating and confirming the truth of all the 
rest, so far as they enter into the mind ; so that there 
are no contradictions. But still, the willing receiver 
is not so lost as not to be able constantly to ascend 
higher and higher up the holy mountain, beholding, as 
he rises, newer and brighter glories in "Wisdom's light. 

Does this look like exaggeration, or fancy-sketching ? 
Who, we would ask, will, at this day, presume to fix 
limits to the extent to which man may advance in 
wisdom and knowledge ? Being made a recipient of 
God's wisdom and love, and having the Lord for his 
-teacher, where shall he stop ? Why may he not yet 
know how the trees grow, and the plants bloom, and 
see and understand the causes which are operating be- 
hind the curtain of matter ? 

Now, as man is a microcosm, having within him all 
the living elements of the macrocosm ; and as God, 
the infinite man, is the Author and Father of all, is 
related to all, and is giving existence and life to all ; 
so, therefore, the history of man is the history of every- 
thing ; a knowledge of man is a knowledge of every- 
thing ; and the study of man is the study of everything. 
And God's Holy Word embraces that whole vast his- 



52 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 

tory. . It is an entire history of man — past, present, 
and prophetic : a history of his origin, nature, and 
destiny ; of what he has been, is, and will be, embra- 
cing all time and eternity. And in coming to that Holy 
Word for light, our investigations will be much facili- 
tated by bearing in mind, that the internal sense from 
the beginning to the end of the volume, treats expressly 
and entirely of the nature and character of God, of the 
various creations and falls of man, and of the conse- 
quences, to man, of his being either good or evil, true 
or false. This is the one, and entire history. 

By the various creations, and falls, and re-creations 
of man, embracing all his diversified qualities, of every 
shade and character, which are described throughout, 
the Word, are meant, the establishment, consummation 
and succession of churches of every grade ; or the 
regeneration of man in all the minutiae of the process. 
This is the one constant theme of the Sacred Word. 
And what else could it treat of when that theme em- 
braces everything ? for whether we say the Bible is a 
history of the church, or the history of man, it is the 
same thing ; for the church in man is what constitutes 
him man. This is what gives him the image and like- 
ness of his God. This is because the essentials of the 
church are love and wisdom in man, from God, going 
forth into action. Whatever, therefore, may be the 
apparent subject of the letter of the Word, we must 
look, by analogy, through what apjDcars on the surface 
to matters of the mind — to things human. 

Where the creation of natural things is mentioned, 
the internal sense treats of the creation of the spiritual 



THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 53 

things to which the natural things correspond. And 
as all things in nature correspond to principles in the 
mind of man^ therefore^ a history of man's spiritual 
creation or regeneration could be perfectly described 
by a history of the creation of natural things^ whether 
those natural things .were created in the order men- 
tioned to describe the spiritual creation or not. Thus, 
in the very commencement of the Holy Word, the 
spiritual creation or regeneration of man, the micro- 
cosm, is described by a parabolic history of the creation 
of the universe, or macrocosm. And this creation of 
natural things is narrated in such order, by the divine 
wisdom, as to teach, by correspondences, the precise 
process of the regeneration of man ; or of the growth 
of a human mind from spiritual infancy, up into the 
image and likeness of God, in every particular of 
the proceedings ; so that men, in the light of the spir- 
itual sense, may now go to the first chapter of Genesis 
to learn the way of life and salvation. 

This immense, and yet, consolidated system of views 
of God, man and the universe, and of the Holy "Word, 
as the medium of light and life to all created things, 
strikes many minds, at the first view, as strange and 
novel ; and they turn aside, saying, It is asking too 
much to request our attention to any such system. 
But let me ask them if it is asking too much to request 
their attention to the AVord of the Most High God ? 
And let me further ask them what light, from any 
other philosophy, they can bring to show the use and 
beauty of the strange things of the Holy Word ? 
Upon what other ground, than this language of anal- 



54 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 

ogy, can we possibly account for the propriety or use 
of many portions of the Sacred Word ? What shall 
we do with the Pentateuch^ or with the books of Eze- 
kiel and the Apocalypse, and with many things scat- 
tered throughout the Word ? Why is the vast universe, 
in generals and in particulars, so frequently brought 
before us ? The sun, moon, stars, winds, clouds, rain, 
hail, snow, ice, frost, fire, light, darkness, calms, 
storms, thunders, earthquakes, floods, droughts, moun- 
tains, hills, valleys, seas, rivers, beasts, birds, fishes, 
reptiles, insects- — everything that flies, walks, creeps, 
swims, or crawls — trees, brambles, briers, shrubs, 
thistles, plants, wheat, rye, barley, corn — everything 
that grows upon the earth — gold, silver, copper, brass, 
iron, lead, precious stones, rocks, clay, sand — every- 
thing in the earth ; and even the earth itself. Why 
are these things so frequently mentioned by the Lord, 
in whole or in part, to teach men the doctrines of the 
Word and the way of life ? for '^ All scripture is profit- 
able for doctrine/' Must it not be because they im- 
part moral and religious instruction by a higher mean- 
ing than the letter which killeth ? Why are these 
things mentioned as living and rational creatures ? the 
floods clapping their hands, the hills rejoicing, the 
trees choosing a king, the mountains moving about, 
the hills skipping like young sheep, the valleys shout- 
ing and singing, the earth reeling to and fro like a 
drunken man, everything that hath breath praising 
God, and God entering into covenant with the beasts 
of the field and the creeping things of the earth ; why 
all this, unless they correspond to principles in man ; 



THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 55 

SO that it is man that reels to and fro, man that praises 
God by every living principle of his nature, man with 
whom God entered into covenant, man that shouts and 
sings, man that claps his hands, man that chooses a 
king, principles in man that skip like young sheep, 
mountains in man that are moved ? It must be so : 
and, by the science of correspondences, it is clearly 
seen to be so ; for all these things are mentioned as 
" Profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,'" 
and '' for instruction in righteousness : '' that we may 
be '^ thoroughly furnished unto all good works/' 
(2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.) But, without this science, what 
can we learn from such things of the Word as the 
Lord's shaving with a hired razor, and its consuming 
the beard from the feet ? from the dragon's sweeping 
down a third part of the stars of heaven with his tail ? 
from a chariot's being cast into a dead sleep ? from 
Jehovah's riding on horseback, or in chariots ? from 
horses coming out of the book when opened ? from 
locusts with shapes like horses, faces like men, hair 
like women, teeth like lions and tails like scorpions ? 
What can these things mean ? Are they the Word 
of infinite wisdom ? They are, most certainly ; and 
they are beaming with truth clear to the mind, and 
filled with food for hungry souls. Come ye to the 
banquet ! come with confidence and a teachable spirit, 
and you will find, in every passage, a well of living 
water, springing up unto everlasting life, for all that 
are thirsty. How emphatically do all these things 
point us to nature for the symbol of their true meaning, 
or for the origin or forms of the words in which divine 



56 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 

ideas must be clothed, or expressed, in order to reach, 
human minds on earth. Indeed, it is to nature that 
we must go for the real basis of all language. How- 
ever lost we may now be to the true roots and laws of 
our own dialect, we may soon know, by rational reflec- 
tion, that it is Dame Nature that has taught us all 
how to talk. We can lisp only her accents. True, 
her language has become, to us, much adulterated ; 
but that is our own fault. We use it nevertheless. 
Her songs, and shouts, and tears, and groans, and 
sighs, are the sure expressions of human thoughts and 
feelings. We can soar only through her eloquence, 
paint only through her colors, and rejoice only through 
her gladness. Does any one doubt this ? Then let 
us inquire into it. 

Had we no language, how would we go to work 
to get one ? Nov/, think deeply, and seek, as keenly 
as you can, the answer to this question, and you will 
find it impossible to see how to express a single idea, 
in speech, without taking the sign from nature. For 
illustration. — Had we no words to express the idea of 
innocence, how would we declare it ? By a harmless 
expression of the face, a soft tone of the voice, or a 
gentle motion of the hand ? How should we know but 
it meant gentleness, kindness, quietude, or some other 
grace or virtue ? We could not certainly tell. We 
should have no possible way to definitely express the 
idea of innocence, without seeking something in nature 
which was a symbol of innocence. And if we could 
read the book of nature in correspondences, we should 
point at once to the lamb ; and that would be our word 



THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND« 57 

for innocence. But having lost the science of corre- 
spondences, the language we should novv^ draw from na- 
ture, if we had none, would be very indefinite. Still, we 
should go there, for we could get a dialect nowhere else. 

But, in the primeval age, when men were good, and 
saw the qualities of natural things by intuition, they 
had, at once, something in nature to express every 
quality and j)rinciple of the human mind : for all 
things correspond to qualities in man, and namej by 
correspondence, signifies quality. And when, in the 
early days of that golden age, they named the various 
things of nature according to the difierent mental qual- 
ities which they denoted, they did as men do now, in 
giving names to new things ; only they acted then from 
the union of spiritual thought with the natural, and 
named according to correspondences ; while men now 
act only from natural thought, and name according to 
qualities. Thus, we have our Rocky and Green moun- 
tains ; our White and Rattlesnake hills ; our Wolfj 
Bear and Pleasant lakes ; our Crooked^ Mnddy and 
Silver creeks; our telegraph ivires and steam engines. 

We should know that every principle of the under- 
standing and of the will, of the thoughts and feelings, 
though, in themselves, spiritual things, and entirely 
above the laws of this lower world, yet, in order to be 
brought down into natural language for men in the 
flesh, they must be expressed by natural symbols. 
For the natural man has no other way, and can 
think of no other way, to describe his thoughts 
and feelings but in the use of words which have 
been drawn entirely from nature. From a mo- 

3- 



58 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 

mentis reflection, one who has never thought upon the 
subject, may see that the language he uses to describe 
his thoughts and feelings, was drawn from nature. 
Take for instance the whole variety of adjectives by 
which we express the qualities of mental things ; bit- 
ter, Bweet, sour, warm, cold, long, short, high, low, 
dark, light, near, distant, black, white, no matter what. 
Are they not all taken from the things of this world ? 
And yet, we use them to describe the states and quali- 
ties of the mind. We speak of a tuarm or cold heart ; 
a hitter J sweety or sour temper ; a long^ dee^Oj or shal- 
low head ; of high or loio spirits ; a darh and muddy ^ 
or dear and lucid understanding ; a hright or cloudy 
intellect ; a hlacTz character ; a distant relative ; a 
near friend ; a hnotty subject ; and so we might go on 
and fill up our discourse. Now, we all know that these 
words have not the same meaning, when applied to the 
mind, as they have when applied to matter. We have 
no proper idea of extension in space when we speak of 
a long or deep head, or of high or low spirits, or of 
near and distant relatives ; nor of natural mud or clouds 
when we speak of a cloudy or muddy intellect ; nor of 
taste when we speak of a sweet or sour temper. These 
expressions are used because there is no other way, for 
persons in the flesh, to speak of spiritual things but 
through natural symbols ; nor to express the quality 
of spiritual things but by means of words expressive 
of the quality of natural things. 

And, before the loss of correspondences, a clear spir- 
itual idea was always seen through natural symbols, 
and was alike understood by all. But when the true 



THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 59 

law of analogy was lost^ this beautiful and certain lan- 
guage fell into mere naturalism^ and the Word has 
since been understood^ either precisely as it reads in 
the letter^ or else been considered figurative^ and there- 
fore been interpreted according to the various states 
and prejudices of men. And thence has originated all 
the different creeds and doctrines of Christendom. 
And nothing short of the restoration of this science can 
ever draw out the deep truths of the Word^ restore 
harmony to the minds of Christians, and bring the 
watchmen to see eye to eye. Nor can this be done by 
merely bringing the philosophy of this science into the 
external plane of the mind, so as to see the propriety 
and consistency of it. Nothing short of the possession 
of this heavenly light in the affections, and the car- 
rying it out in our lives, will restore order and har- 
mony among men. 

But, to accomplish this, it is necessary, in the first 
place, to have a common plane upon which we can ra- 
tionally meet to learn the true character of our God, of 
ourselves and of the way of hfe, as taught in the Holy 
Word. This common ground we have, in a light in- 
disputable, in the divine science of correspondences. 

But, it is asked, '' What is the strongest and most 
conclusive evidence which you have to offer in proof of 
the truth and certainty of this new science ?'' We an- 
swer, No evidence can be sufficiently clear and full 
to satisfy a mind that will not look at it, or that has 
no taste nor desire for things beyond the gift of this 
world. But if even such a person were entirely unac- 
quainted with the Chinese language, and should re- 



60 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 

move to China^ and there learn to speak and write that 
language^ so as to read their books and understand 
them^ and should find that they contained a rational 
and consecutive chain of ideas and history of events, 
he certainly would be convinced that they had a lan- 
guagC; and that he had learned it. It is precisely so 
with the language of analogy. It must be examined 
and learned, and tested by the reading of analogical 
language before it can be understood. 

Now let that same man come to the Sacred Scrip- 
tures and look at the first two chapters of Genesis, the 
twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, the tenth of Ezekiel 
and the twenty-first of Eevelation, and he will be as 
much at a loss to know their true meaning, as he was 
that of "the Chinese language when he went to that 
country. But let him learn the language of analogy 
until he can read and understand the Holy Word by 
it, and can see a beautiful and consistent course of use- 
ful instruction pervading the entire chapters mentioned ; 
and not only them, but also the whole "Word, making 
it a new Book, most clear and instructive, and he will 
then be much more strongly convinced of the indisputa- 
ble verity of this language than he was, or could possi- 
bly be, of that of the Chinese. 

Now, we can say to such persons, that many are the 
human minds, of different nations of the earth, who 
are becoming thus convinced. Will not God's Holy 
Word, then^ yet become known as it is, and be univer- 
sally received, loved and regarded.^ Will it not be- 
come the great Law of the land, and restore universal 



THE UNIVEKSE AND THE MIND. 61 

peace on earth and good will toward men ? It most 
surely will. That glorious shout of the angels^ at the 
birth 6f our Lord, was not made in vain. " Behold, I 
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to 
all people.'' (Luke ii. 10.) The Lord, at His second 
coming, as the light and life of the Word, seen by the 
law of analogy, will surely bring it to pass. The seals 
are already broken, and the Holy Spirit is going forth. 
The pure Truth, or the Lord as the spiritual sense of 
the Word, is coming in the clouds of heaven, or letter 
of the. Word, into the human mind, with power and 
great glory ; and every eye shall see Him. Yes, the 
glorious Bridegroom Himself is coming. Go ye out to 
meet Him ; go dressed in the wedding garments of the 
New Jerusalem : go adorned with the precious stones 
of the Holy City ; with the pearls and rubies of the 
blessed Word. Yes, let us arise, and go hence, that 
we may walk the golden streets of the New Jerusalem 
together, in peace and love. And let us thus hasten 
on the glorious day when the knowledge jof the Lord 
shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea ; and 
when all shall know the Lord, from the least to the 
greatest. God, by the light of His Holy Word, is of- 
fering to us this blessed privilege. Is it worth the re- 
ception ? Are heavenly light and life, and peace and 
joy — are a happy world and a heaven below, and an 
eternal heaven above worth the attention of men ? 
Then, I beseech you, let us accept the boon of Jesus' 
Spirit, and work in His vineyard while the day lasts, 
that when the final morning of the resurrection comes 



62 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 

and we cast off the clay, we may feel in our hearts the 
warmth and brightness of the rising sun, and hear the 
plaudit of '' Well done, good and faithful servant, 
. . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord/' (Matt. 
XXV, 21.) 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE LAW OF LIFE BETWEEN GOD MAN AND NATURE. 

" "When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a 
people of strange language, the sea saw it, and fled ; Jordan was 
driven back ; the mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills 
like lambs. " (Ps. cxiv. 1, 3, 4.) 

Our subject for this evening is^ The Divine Law of 
Life between God, Man and Nature, This law of life 
is the great law of Analogy. It is the divine rule of 
action between the Creator and the created. It is the 
way God gives life to all credited things. Life in God 
is the Divine Love and Wisdom. The Divine Love or 
Goodness is the essence, and the Divine Wisdom or 
Truth is the form or manifestation of that Life to 
man. By the efflux of this Love and Wisdom God 
created and constantly sustains the universe. But in 
order for the affectionate reception of this Love there 
had to be human Will, and for the rational reception 
of this Wisdom there had to be human understanding. 

But this Love and Wisdom could never have been 
affectionately and rationally received into the human 
will and understanding without language to teach or 
express the nature; character and qualities of this di- 



64 



vine Life. The only language^ in which it could be 
given^ is the language of correspondences^ for that is 
the speech of God ; and it presents something of that 
Love and Wisdom in every word it utters. A people 
who should rationally and affectionately receive that 
language would know and love Grod^ and possess His 
image and likeness. A people without any knowledge 
of it would have no true spiritual idea of Grod what- 
ever ; their thought would be only natural. 

That language was once universally understood on 
the earthy and the world was in true order. And just 
in the degree that it was lost men lost true ideas of 
God's nature and character^ misunderstood the true 
doctrines of the Holy Word and divided into various 
sects^ with divers creeds and ceremonies. And when 
that language is rationally and affectionately received 
again^ by the human family on earthy the world of 
mankind will be spiritually alive — in the true knowl- 
edge and love of God ; ^ for it is the eternal Law of 
Life between God, man and nature. God clearly 
speaks it in both His Word and His works ; and, be- 
tween the two, the language is definitely explained 
and rationally taught. 

We will therefore now appeal to the Word Itself, 
in Its analogical connection with nature, in further 
verification of this law. Now the words earth and 
heavens are often used in the Word in such a way as 
to give no rational instruction, in the literal sense 
alone, but rather to involve the subject in obscurity, 
until the true law of life is seen ; as where it speaks of 
the heaven and the earth passing away, and of God's 



GOD; MAN AND NATURE. 65 

creating a new heaven and a new earth ; of the heavens 
being rolled together as a scroll ; of the stars falling 
from heaven as a fig tree casteth her nntimely figs 
when she is shaken of a mighty wind ; or where it says, 
^' The earth mourneth and fadeth away ; . . . the earth 
is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved/' 
(Is. xxiv. 4, 19.) ^^ The earth opened her mouth."" 
(Eev. X. 16.) ^^ The Lord hath forsaken the earth.'" 
(Ezekiel ix. 9.) These are strange sayings. But as 
soon as it is clearly seen that the earth corresponds to 
man or to the human mind, there may be readily seen 
something of the beauty and propriety of all such ex- 
pressions ; for if we see that^ in the most -essential 
meaning; it is the human mind that is everywhere 
treated of in the Word, and that it is because the visi- 
ble world corresponds to that mind, that it is so often 
mentioned; a most rational light will ever beam from 
the sacred page where the teaching is otherwise lost in 
obscurity. Thus we can see that; as the earth is 
warmed and illuminated by the heat and light of the 
sun so as to give germination and growth to every liv- 
ing thing upon it; so do spiritual heat and light; v/hich 
are the love and wisdom of the Lord flowing from Him 
as the Sun of EighteousnesS; give germination and 
growth to every spiritual principle — every good thought 
and feeling which spring up in the mental earth or soil 
of the mind. And the cultivation and growth of natu- 
ral things perfectly corresponds to the cultivation and 
growth of mental things. It is for this reason that 
there is so much said; in the Word; about breaking 
up the fallow ground, and sowing; planting, watering. 



66 GOD; MAN AND NATURE. 

reaping, gathering, and gleaning ; and also about 
thorns, thistles, nettles and briers, as well as wheat, 
corn and good fruits. For, in the spiritual sense, it is 
always things of the mental earth which are meant by 
such expressions ; because it is the states and qualities 
of the human mind that the prophets were all writing 
about. Thus, in Hosea, the Lord says, ^^ Judah shall 
plow, Jacob shall break his clods. Sow to yourselves 
in righteousness, reap in mercy.'' (x. 11, 12.) '^ Light 
is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright 
in heart.'' (Ps. xcvii. 11.) Man ^^ Soweth discord ; " 
(Prov. vi. 14, 19.) ^^ Soweth strife;" (ik xvi. 28.) 
Soweth ^^ The wind, and shall reap the whirlwind ; " 
(Hosea viii. 7.) ^^ Soweth iniquity" and ^^ shall reap 
vanity." (Prov. xii. 8.) The Lord says in Mark, 
'^ The sower soweth the Word." (iv. 14.) And in 
Jeremiah He says, ^' 1 will sow the house of Israel and 
the house of Judah with the seed of man," (xxxi. 27.) 
by which is meant the truths of the Word, which, if 
cultivated, will produce the image of God the divine 
Man. And when the Word is sown it is declared that 
^^ Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and 
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree." 
(Is. Iv. 13.) 

Now, as it is in the affections of the human mind that 
all this sowing and plowing and reaping are done ; so 
also that is the place, to which the prophet alludes, 
when he says, '^ Thorns shall come up in her palaces, 
nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof" (Is. 
xxxiv. 13.) For the living soul is composed of things 
good and true in the mind, and when that soul goes 



GOD^ MAN AND NATURE. 67 

down^ then the falsities and evils^ denoted by thorns, 
nettles and brambles, come into the heart. Thus it is, 
that ^^ Thistles come upon'' our ^^ altars/' because the 
human heart is the true altar of worship. And there it 
is that the thorns choke the good seed of the Word. 

How clear and beautiful is the correspondence be- 
tween the uncultivated earth and the uncultivated 
mind ! Therefore the cultivation of the earth is often 
mentioned to denote the cultivation or regeneration of 
the mind. Thus in Isaiah, speaking of the mind, it 
says, ^' I will make the wilderness a pool."'' (xli. 18.) 
^^ Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their 
voice.'' (xlii. 11.) ^^ He will make her wilderness like 
Eden." (li. 3.) This is regeneration. The whole 
journey of the children of Israel in the wilderness, on 
their way to Canaan and the expulsion of the Canaan- 
ites, is a perfect description, by correspondence, of what 
every man passes through, in being regenerated. And 
the degeneration of man is described by the fruitful 
place becoming a wilderness ; — ^"^ The pleasant portions 
a wilderness." ^^ Edom shall be a desolate wilderness." 
And as in the natural wilderness are wild and ravenous 
beasts, so, in a wilderness state of the mind, are savage 
and head-strong affections and passions to which wild 
beasts correspond. 

"We will now mention a few general rules which may 
be of use to the new student of this divine science. 
The two great essential principles in God are, love and 
wisdom. The third principle in Him is power. But 
this power is the offspring, or rather, the operative 
force of that love and wisdom, Man's will, in order, 



68 GOD^ MAN AND NATURE. 

corresponds to God's love ; his understandings to God's 
wisdom ; and his energy, to God's power. Now, as 
there is nothing in nature which God's love and wis- 
dom have not brought into being and sustained^ and is 
therefore a direct or perverted image of some principle 
in Him, it must follow that every natural thing corre- 
sponds; in some certain degree, either to goodness and 
truth or to evil and falsity, in some of their infinite va- 
rieties of forms. For, it should be borne in mind that 
God's love and wisdom are not a unit in goodness and 
truth, but an infinite variety of goods and truths, all 
in perfect order and harmony, forming a whole in the 
Infinite Human form ; and that everything good and 
true in man or in nature, corresponds to something in 
the great Form of all forms, from which it derives its 
existence ; and also that every evil or falsity is a per- 
version of something in the great divine Being. But 
this perversion springs from the abuse of man's freedom 
and not from God. Sometimes the main or prominent 
correspondence of a thing will be to goodness, yet there 
will, at the same time, be a certain relation to truth in 
it. For every good has its truth. And good cannot 
produce anything without the co-operation of truth, 
nor can it even exist separate from it. The quality of a 
thing, generally speaking, has relation to some good or 
evil ; and its form to some truth or falsity. But, to 
these general rules, there are exceptions resulting from 
states or circumstances which will be readily seen as a 
person progresses in a knowledge and love of this di- 
vine science. 

Everything that we eat that is wholesome, corre- 



GOD^ MAN AND NATURE. 69 

spends to good, and everything that we drink, to truth. 
Unwholesome things which we eat and drink corre- 
spond to evils and falsities. All liquids, as a general 
rule, correspond to truths or falsities : water to truth 
or falsity in the natural degree, and wine, in the spir- 
itual degree. Thus, the same thing sometimes corre- 
sponds to truth, and at other times to falsity, accord- 
ing to the light in which it is used. But it is readily 
known to which it corresponds. For, if it*he men- 
tioned in a bad sense, as against God's laws and injur- 
ing that which is good or true, it would correspond to 
falsity. But if in a good sense, or according to the di- 
vine laws, or as destroying that which is evil and false, 
it corresponds to truth. 

Thus, all the implements of war, used in the battles 
recorded in Scripture, correspond either to truths or 
falsities ; those on the Lord's side correspond to truths ; 
those on the opposite side, to falsities. And even the 
opposing armies themselves correspond, on the one side, 
to good principles, and on the other, to evils. Grood and 
evil principles always stand opposed to each other, and 
their weapons of war are always truths and falsities. 
Thus the ^^ Sword of the Lord'' is the divine truth pro- 
ceeding out of His mouth ; while the ^^ Sword of the 
adversary" is falsity. 

Water, when it is used in a bad sense, as destroying 
man, or overflowing lands or cities, or being muddy or 
bitter, or raging in hail-storms, corresponds to falsity ; 
but when used in a good sense, as the refreshing shower 
or gentle dew, the river of God, the pool of Siloam^ a 
well of living water, the water of life, it corresponds to 



70 GOD; MAN AND NATURE. 

truth. And what a beautiful correspondence to truth 
is water ! It quenches the thirst, cleanses the skin, 
and performs the same uses to the body which truth 
does to the mind. In general, all things which are 
transparent or that reflect images, correspond either to 
truths or falsities. 

The Holy City is said to be ^^pure gold, like unto 
clear glass/' This is because gold corresponds to 
goodness and glass to truth ; and they are mentioned 
together to denote the union of goodness and truth. 
By this we learn that the doctrines of the New Church, 
in order to become a holy city in our minds, must fill 
our hearts with their goods and our minds with their 
truths. Then the doctrines will be clear and beautiful 
in our minds, They will be pure gold, like unto clear 
glass. 

Again, as the earth corresponds to man, or to the 
human mind, so all mountains, being the highest parts 
of the earth, signify the highest or uppermost things 
in the mind ; and these are things of the will — the 
desires — things which we either warmly love or hate. 
Therefore, if the thing we most ardently love be good- 
ness, that affection would be called a '^ Mountain of 
holiness '' — a '^ Mountain of the Lord.'' It would be 
a high state of love to the Lord. This is the mountain 
which our Savior went up into to pray. For, although 
He went up into a natural mountain, yet He did it 
from correspondence ; His heart was in love to the Fa- 
ther : His soul was in a mountain as well as His body. 
Everything He said or did was in correspondences. 
And He took His body into a mountain to pray to 



GOD; MAN AND NATURE. 71 

teach US; by outward and expressive acts, that when we 
praj; we should elevate our affections to Grod in the 
highest degree we can. And that we should strive 
and labor for it mentally^ as the Lord did naturally by 
actually climbing up into a mountain to pray. If the 
thing we most ardently love be self, manifested in 
some violent feeling of revenge or malice toward some 
individual who has injured or slandered us^ that bitter 
feeling is a mountain — the uppermost pinnacle of our 
mental earth. This mountain must be removed before 
we can find rest or peace of soul. This is the kind of 
mountain to which, if we have ^^ faith as a grain of 
mustard seed/'' we can say, '^ Eemove hence to yonder 
place ; and it shall remove.'*' (Matt. xvii. 20.) If we 
have faith to believe that it is wrong to feel unkind 
toward anybody ; that we should love even our ene- 
mieS; and bless those that curse us, then we can remove 
this mountain of revenge. But to have faith as a 
grain of mustard seed^ in this case, is to have the bless- 
ed truth; which sayS; ^^ Love your enemies/' so deeply 
sown in the soil of the heart, that it will spring up, for 
the removal of all such mountains, and become large 
enough for the birds of heaven, or heavenly thoughts, 
to lodge in the branches thereof ; or, in other words, 
so that we can think kindly toward our enemies. 

Hills, in a bad sense, denote feelings not so high as 
mountains — not so bitter as revenge or malice — yet, 
feelings which are unkind and uncharitable. In a 
good sense, they denote feelings of charity and good- 
will. From this we may form some idea of what is 
meant in the Word by the moving about of mountains 



72 GOD^ 3IAN AND NATURE. 

and liills, as expressed in tlie text^ when ^^ The moun- 
tains leaped like rams ; and the little hills like lambs/' 
or J more properly rendered^ ^' The sons of the flock/' 
Now. all know that these things could not take place 
physically ; hut we readily see that the mountains and 
hills of the mind may be removed, whether they be 
good or evil. In the text they were evil. Indeed, we 
have a singular text, strange enough in the letter. It 
reads thus, ^^ When Israel went out of Egypt, the 
house of Jacob from a people of strange language, the 
sea saw it and fled ; Jordan was driven back, the 
mountains leaped like rams, and the little hills like 
lambs.'' "What a scene for a mundane eye to behold ! 
But it is spiritual, not natural. And many of us have 
witnessed something of the kind in our own mental 
earth. 

The sea, in the Word, corresponds to knowledge in 
general, whether true or false, stored up in the memory. 
Eivers denote the scientific and doctrinal streams 
which flow into that sea from study. Places represent 
states of mind. In our text, by the sea and river are 
meant false knowledges and doctrines ; and^ by Egypt 
a state of religious darkness, brought on by a strange 
language not rationally understood, used in the absence 
of the pure language of analogy, which had been lost. 
But let that bright language be again brought clearly 
into the mind ; let Israel and Jacob, which denote di- 
vine qualities or the highest religious principles in us, 
arise and start from their Egyptian mysteries, and look 
above their strange language by the light of analogy, 
and, will not the sea of our false knowledges flee ? 



GOD^ MAN AND NATURE. 73 

Will not the river of erroneous doctrines turn back ? 
Will not the mountains of self-love and the hills of 
the love of the world remove from the affections ? 
Most assuredly they will. 

But, it may be asked, how is it that their removal 
can be so sudden ? How can they skip like sheep 
when they are the very life's love ? It is in theory 
only that they thus leap. The true light shows us 
the true doctrines ; and, intellectually, we see and 
know that they are true, and that our former views 
were false and our affections evil. This is quickly 
done : so that from our system of theology all moun- 
tains and hills of evil, as they are seen, are, at once, 
driven to the shades. They leap like rams. When 
light comes in, darkness must disappear. Thus, our 
understanding condemns them. But before they can 
be removed from the natural will, the new light of 
faith must work by a new love to the Lord, introduced 
into the internal will by the new light, and thus must 
purify the natural heart from the love of self. In this 
way only can those mountains and hills be actually 
removed. But there is a class of imaginary mountains 
and hills, in the mind, without foundation, resting on 
circumstances or on selfish hopes and fears, which are 
sometimes as suddenly gone as the leaping of sheep. 
How often do men's high mountains of hope or fear, 
at once skip from the heart, from some new event of 
life either blasting every ardent expectation, or quell- 
ing all anxious dread ! And so of the hills, or imagin- 
ary charities. All the natural feelings of kindness and 
benevolence which exist among men merely from self- 

4 



74 GOD^ MAN AND NATURE. 

ish intercourse and enjoyment^ and which sometimes 
seem to be hills of much magnitude and importance, 
may, by a single reverse of fortune, all skip like young 
sheep. But God's hills of charity in our hearts, 
founded in the pure love of mercy and good-will, the 
reverses of worldly fortune can never disturb. But, 
on the contrary, they ever magnify them and fill them 
with new springs of kindness and compassion. It 
does the generous soul good to pour the oil of sym- 
pathy and consolation into the wounds of an afflicted 
brother. 

Valleys, in a good sense, signify the lowest and most 
external of the affections for either God or the neigh- 
bor. In a bad sense, they denote the most base and 
grovelling affections of the natural mind. But, as all 
power is in ultimates, so the valleys or externals of 
the mind, may iDecome immensely productive of good 
in the community in which we live. There is great 
natural fruitfulness in the valleys of the earth. The 
soil of them is luxuriantly fertile. They take the 
wash of the mountains ; or the mountains give their 
goodness to the valleys. They also send down their 
streams to water and refresh them. And with these 
blessings, with proper cultivation, their productions 
are abundant. So it is with love, the mental mount- 
ain, whether in God or in man. Heavenly love, the 
mountain of the good soul, wants to give itself away 
to everything that is below it. It gives of its good- 
ness, and it gives of its truth. And those who, like 
the valleys, open their bosoms to receive them, and 
drink in freely the water of life, and partake of the 



GOD, MAN ANX> NATURE. 75 

blessings of love^ faithfully cultivating the mind^ will 
bring forth much fruit. 

Again^ the human body is an image of the mind which 
infills it^ and by which it acts ; therefore^ every part of 
the body corresponds to some principle of the mind. 
It is for this reason that the organs of the body^ in re- 
gard to both God and man^ are so often mentioned in 
the Woi:d. And by knowing to what principles of the 
mind the various organs of the body correspond^ many, 
otherwise strange and incomprehensible passages of 
Scripture, are made plain and instructive. Therefore, 
when the Lord says, ^^ If thy hand offend thee, cut it 
off : it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than 
having two hands to go into hell.'' " And if thy foot 
offend thee, cut it off : it is better for thee to enter 
halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell.'' 
^^ And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out : it is bet- 
ter for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one 
eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell-fire." 
(Mark ix. 43, 45, 47.) When the Lord says these 
things, we are not left in the mazes of darkness, nor 
in vague conjecture as to what He means. But who 
would presume to say that the literal sense alone does 
not leave the subject in profound darkness ? Can 
any one believe that the natural foot, hand or eye can 
offend ? Are they not mere instruments of the mind, 
entirely unconscious, and without responsibility ? 
But suppose that they could absolutely offend, can we 
cut them off and cast them from us so that we should 
be without two hands, feet or eyes in the next life ? 
Is a man who loses an eye in this life to have but one 



76 



in the next ? It does seem as though it were too late 
a period in this wonderful age of scientific progression 
for men much longer, to shut their eyes against this 
lio'ht of analoi2:y. If the Bible is the Word of divine 
AVisdom, given to man to teach him, it must be in- 
tended to be understood. But who, without the science 
of correspondences, will dare to say that he understands 
these passages ? Surely no humble and pious man would 
have that presumption. Let us lt)ok at them in the light 
of that science. The hand denotes power or ability. 
Therefore David prays to the Lord saying, "^ Send thine 
hand from above ; rid me, and deliver me out of great 
waters, from the hand of strange children ; whose 
mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is the 
right hand of falsehood.'' (Ps. cxliv. 7, 8.) Now, 
who can give any other rational meaning to hands, in 
this passage, than power ; or to waters, than falsities ; 
or to the strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, 
than to evil or the devil who was a liar from the begin- 
ning ? It is perfectly certain that David here jDrays 
that the Lord will send His power from above ; and 
rid him, and deliver him out of many falsities, from the 
powers of tbe children of the devil whose mouth speak- 
eth a lie, and whose wilful powers are the wilful pow- 
ers of falsehood. Again, it is written, ^^ His right hand, 
and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory.'' He 
conquered, of course, by His power. Hand denotes 
power ; arms, greater power, and shoulders, all power. 
If thy hand offend thee, cut it off. For the hand to of- 
fend is to exercise the power and propensity to sin. To 
cut the hand off, is to cease to exercise that ability, 



GOD^ MAN AND NATUKE. 77 

and tlius weaken or put away the propensity. We are 
creatures of liabit^ and our evil propensities become 
strong or Aveak in proportion to the indulgence. In 
the strength of them is the power or hand. To weaken 
or put away that strength is called cutting off the 
hand. The foot^ as it is the lower part of the body 
and most in the dust^ denotes the most external and 
the lowest principle of the mind. For the foot to of- 
fend is to indulge in the lowest principle of selfishness. 
To cut the foot off and cast it from us^ is to suspend 
and mortify that indulgence^ till we lose the desire 
for it. 

That the foot denotes the lowest natural principle 
of the mind^ we might know from the one passage 
alone where our Lord says to Peter^ '^ He that is 
washed needeth not save to wash his feet^ but is clean 
every whit.'' Thus teaching plainly that when once 
spiritually clean^ we have only to keep the lower^ the 
outward principles of the mind clean^ to be ^^ clean 
every whit."' For it is through the lower principles of 
our nature that temptations enter^ and defile us. Keep 
this principle pure ; guard well this avenue to tempta- 
tion ; keep this door well watched, with the blood of 
the Lord^ or truth of the Word upon its lintel and 
there is no danger. But, without the spiritual sense, 
what can the words of the Lord to Peter mean ? The 
Lord was washing the disciples' feet. ^'Then cometh 
He to Simon Peter : and Peter saith unto Him, Lord, 
dost thou wash my feet ? Jesus answered and said 
unto him. What I do thou knowest not now.'^ 
(John xiii. 6, 7.) If ow Peter certainly did know the 



78 GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 

Lord was washing the natural feet of the disciples. 
But he did not know what that act signified. ^^ Peter 
saith unto Him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Je- 
sus answered Him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no 
part Avith me. Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord, 
not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.'' 
(xiii. 8, 9.) Then Jesus informed him the feet were 
all that it was necessary to wash, in order to give the 
divine instruction conveyed by that act. He wanted 
to impress upon the world the great importance of 
keeping the outward acts of life clean ; and that they 
must wash one another's feet, or aid each other in keep- 
ing free from outward sins. Who can know, without 
the spiritual sense, what the Lord meant by saying, 
^^ He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, 
but is clean every whit" ? For if, after our bodies are 
washed clean, we keep our feet clean, that will not 
keep our bodies clean also. Let us then, while we have 
the spiritual sense, faithfully follow its instructions, 
and keep the hand and foot from offending : thus shall 
we be prepared to enter into life. 

The eye denotes the understanding. For the eye to 
offend, is to tell falsehoods and to embrace falsities as 
truths. To pluck the eye out and cast it from us, is 
to cease to deceive and to stop trying to reason from 
fallacies, and to seek for light upon a rational basis 
until we can reason from correct principles and true 
doctrines. When we deal in falsehoods, our eye or un- 
derstanding offends against God, against our neighbor 
and the laws of our own peace. We must pluck out 
that false eye by ceasing to deceive, until we love to 
think and speak from plain truth. And as to its being 



GOD^ MAN AND NATURE. 79 

better to enter into life halt or maimed, or with one 
eyO; rather than having two hands, feet or eyes, to be 
cast into hell- fire ; that means that it is better to be 
good and happy here and hereafter in simple truth and 
virtue, though we cannot know everything and have 
all power, rather than, by being wise in our own eyes, 
esteeming ourselves great, and worthy of great power 
and dominion, we still remain in the love of self, and 
cast ourselves, with all our boasted wisdom and power, 
into the fires of envy, jealousy, and malice, and all the 
attendant miseries of selfishness. The selfish man would 
think himself spiritually maimed, if his overbearing 
powers were curtailed. He would think himself halt, 
if his feet were restrained from their wonted paths of 
vice. And he would think himself half blind, if not 
allowed to reason falsely and deceive his neighbors. 
And the Lord would teach him, by this scripture, that 
it is better to be happy in what he imagines vv^ould be 
a cramped, mutilated, and imperfect condition, rather 
than be miserable, in the full possession and indulgence 
of all his selfish powers and wants. In another view, 
we may see, that we cannot enter heaven with two 
eyes, or rather, two understandings ; one dealing in 
falsities and the other in truths. We cannot go there 
double-minded, serving two masters. We must have 
an eye single to the Lord or the truth. Nor can we go 
there with two hands, or rather, opposite powers of the 
mind ; one exercised in things evil and the other in 
things good : nor with two feet, or rather, external op- 
posing natural principles of the mind, one indulging in 
vices and the other in virtues. We can only go there 



80 GOB, MAN AND NATURE. 

in singleness of heart, mind and action, led and gov- 
erned by the Lord. But our spiritual bodies there will 
be perfect, with eyes, hands, and feet. The cutting of 
the material body to pieces does not touch the organic 
structure of the spiritual body. He who loses a limb 
or an eye, in this world, will not be destitute in the next. 
Thus does the Law of Analogy render clear and 
beautiful, the darkest passages of the Holy Word, and 
also bring to view new and heavenly light in the most 
simple and plain p)ortions. We might go on and fill 
volumes with these illustrations. In fact, I have but 
slightly touched the spiritual sense of the scripture ci- 
ted ; hinting only at the simplest and plainest corre- 
spondences. Much deeper and more wonderful light 
may be drawn from every passage than we have at- 
tempted to evolve. For it is a fountain of infinite 
Wisdom, known in its fullness only to the most high 
God ; and yet so wisely adapted to men that they can 
rationally commence the study in the mere twilight of 
the science ; and pursue a path which will grow bright- 
er and brighter to the perfect day. And how emphati- 
cally does all this prove to us that the Law of Life 
BETWEEN God, man, and nature, is the sure law of 
analogy, in which God speaks to us in both His Word 
and His works ! For we thereby receive His love and 
wisdom — the great elements of eternal life — through a 
rational knowledge and love of the Divine qualities, 
given in His language ; and which are, in themselves, 
the life of angels, men and things. Let us then care- 
fully study the sacred Word, as God's first andhighest 
gift to man, as the true medium of eternal light and 
life to the human soul. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE CORRESPONDENCE OF BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 

" And, tliou son of man, thus saith the Lord God ; Speak unto 
every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field. Assemble 
yourselves, and come ; gather yourselves on every side to my sac- 
rifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the 
mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye 
shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the 
princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all 
of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and 
drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sac- 
rificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses 
and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the 
Lord God." (Ezek. xxxix. 17-20.) 

Our present subject is the correspondence of animals 
and birds to things of the mind^ and the use made of 
them in the Holy Word. And now^ let any intelligent 
person^ who has never thought upon the subject, be 
told that the visible universe corresponds to the human 
mind, that there is nothing in nature which does not, 
from its quality and use, denote some principle and 
quality of the soul of man, let him admit this, and 
then go rationally and carefully into the examination 
of nature; for the purpose of finding out what things 



82 BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 

there, most expressively symbolize human thoughts ; 
and after closely investigating the nature of the vast 
variety of mundane things^ in comparison with human 
qualities, he will come, most deliberately and decided- 
ly^ to the conviction that the birds much more fully 
and emphatically express man's thoughts, than any 
other species of things. And for a symbol of human 
affections, he will select, with the most definite decision, 
the beast. And the more closely he studies the char- 
acter and qualities of the various animals and birds, 
in connection v/ith his own feelings and thoughts, the 
more strongly will he become confirmed in the belief 
that there must be some analogical law or connection 
between the human mind and these creatures. For he 
will find no quality of the human affections or thoughts 
which he does not see manifested, to the very life, in 
the beasts and birds. 

Every variety of quality will be there seen, from the 
most gentle, peaceful, pure, innocent, harmless and af- 
fectionate, to the most treacherous, filthy, deceitful, 
subtle, revengeful, quarrelsome and barbarous. Every 
shade and tint of man's affections will be found in the 
beasts, and of his thoughts, in the birds. And he will 
then see, why the Lord in His Word, is so often bring- 
ing forward the beasts and birds to describe the states 
and qualities of men. He will understand why Herod 
was called afox^ Dan a lion's ivlielp or an adder in the 
path ; and also why the Lord says, '^ The wolf shall 
dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down 
with the kid : and the calf and the young lion and the 
fatling together ; and a little child shall lead them. 



BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 83 

And the cow and the bear shall feed : their young ones 
shall lie down together : and the lion shall eat straw 
like the ox/' (Is. xi. 6, 7.) He will see by all such 
language^ a beautiful description of the state of the 
regenerate mind^ when all the various feeling^ of the 
soul^ denoted by the different beasts, are in harmony 
and love ; when the strong lion and leopard of the 
mind, are filled with the spirit of mercy and truth, 
and are faithfully protecting the lambs and kids of 
innocence and virtue, from all harm, and even lying 
down in their embrace. 

He will understand what is meant, in the Word, by 
the beasts before the throne of God full of eyes before 
and behind. For as eyes denote the understanding, 
he will see that it is the affections of man filled with 
wisdom concerning things future and past. He will 
also see why it is written that the animals give glory 
and honor and thanksgiving to the Lord ; why the 
animals say. Amen ; why, when the Lord opened the 
first seal it was a beast that said, ^^ Come and see ; '' 
and also, why the beasts fell down and worshipped 
God, saying, ^^ Amen ; Alleluia.'' He will see that 
the human heart — the soul's affections — are what is 
meant by beasts ; that it is men and not animals that 
do these things. 

But the novitiate may ask why the birds do not also 
correspond to the affections, and the beasts to the 
thoughts, since they both think and feel ? We an- 
swer. They do, to a certain extent ; because thought 
and affection in man cannot be separated. But to 
find the full specific difference between the correspond- 



84 BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 

ence of beasts and that of birds, to the things of the 
mind, we must look at the different localities, habits 
and uses of the two species of creatures ; and also at 
the correspondence of those localities and habits, to 
thing's *of the mind. And here we shall find, that the 
ground, upon which the animals live and walk, and 
which is dark and opaque, corresponds to the human 
will ; while the atmosphere, where the birds sing and 
fly, and which the sun, moon and stars make luminous, 
denotes the understanding where the light of truth is 
seen. Then, when we see that the affections, to which 
beasts correspond, are things of the will, to which the 
ground corresponds ; and that thoughts, to which the 
birds correspond, are things of the understanding, to 
which the atmosphere or firmament corresponds, the 
question will be settled. 

That the ground does correspond to the will, and the 
atmosphere to the understanding, may be seen, among 
many other reasons, from the fact, that as truth can- 
not come into the will but through the understanding, 
so, neither can light, the correspondent of truth, come 
to the earth but through the atmosphere. And what 
is definite in this argument, is, that in the history of 
the creation, in Genesis, the earth, which denotes the 
ground of the will, brought forth the beasts ; while 
water, which denotes truth in the understanding, 
brought forth the birds. Now, beasts crawl or run on 
the earth : so move the affections in the will. But 
birds fly and soar aloft above the earth ; so move the 
thoughts in the understanding. 

Let us now turn our attention more particularly to 



BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 85 

the correspondences of birds. And are they not strik- 
ing symbols of thoughts ? How^ like the thoughts, 
they flit about from tree to tree, and object to object, 
now rising toward heaven and now sinking to earth. 
One bird meets the eye and is gone. We know not 
whence he came, nor where he went. How like the 
coming and going thought ! Another appears dressed 
in beauty. 'Tis like the poet's gilded thought, flying 
to perch in the verse of fame or aftection. Another 
bird soars, in the morning, on the wings of joy, singing 
praises to the source of day. It is the grateful Chris- 
tian's thought, ascending to heaven in the morning 
anthem. 

Some birds descend to the earth to feed upon filth. 
They are the dissolute thoughts of the grovelling mind 
indulging in sin. Some are birds of night which can- 
not bear the light of day. They are the hidden 
thoughts of the thievish soul, afraid to appear before 
the eyes of men. Some birds are fierce and cruel, 
armed with beaks and claws for destruction. They 
are the malicious murderer's thoughts, seeking carnage 
and gain. Other birds are as gentle and harmless as 
the breath of heaven, and as joyous as the music of 
spring. They are the thoughts of sweet and innocent 
children, sporting 'mid sunshine and fiowers. Some 
birds, in their union, are as affectionate and as constant 
to each other as mercy and truth. They are the conju- 
gial thoughts of faithful souls, which no powers can 
sever, nor adversities weaken. Some birds are as black 
as darkness, and others as white as the light, while 
others are mixed with black and white. How per- 



86 BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 

fectly they symbolize^ in color, the false, the true, and 
the adulterated thoughts of men ! 

Birds are indeed, most true and perfect representa- 
tives of thoughts, and throughout the Holy Word, 
they always denote something of the rational or intel- 
lectual element. It is remarkable that almost every- 
where, in the Word, where birds are mentioned, some 
other meaning than the literal sense must be given 
them before the mind can be satisfied. If we go to 
the first chapter of Genesis, the very first place where 
^^ winged fowP' are mentioned, we are confounded 
with the idea that the birds were made of water. And 
we ask if, by any chemical process, they can be reduced 
to water ? And science answers, No. We ask if 
their substances have not been changed ? And the 
Law answers, Everything must bring forth after its 
kind. The question then arises. Why is it written 
that the waters brought forth the birds, and the earth 
the animals ? But this question can never be answer- 
ed, w^ithout the science of correspondences. But when 
we see that it is a spiritual history and that water, 
there, corresponds to truth and birds to thoughts, all 
is light : the mystery is fled. For we see that all the 
thoughts of the people, before the fall, to which birds 
correspond, must have been true, for the truths of the 
Lord brought them forth. And we also see that all 
the affections, to which the animals correspond, must 
have been good ; for the will or goodness of God, to 
which the land corresponds, brought them forth. And 
as beasts and birds are there used merely for the sake 
of the spiritual sense, all is rational and clear. 



BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 87 

Now, without knowing the coiTespondence of birds, 
we cannot know what is meant by its being said in Jer- 
emiah, when prophesying of the coming of the Lord 
in the flesh (chaj). iv. 25), '' All the birds of heaven 
were fled/' We are nowhere informed that, at the 
Lord's first coming, there were not as many birds on 
the earth as usual. But we know that heavenly 
thoughts had passed away from the Jewish Church ; 
we know those birds of heaven had fled. And there- 
fore, by correspondence, we can understand what is 
meant. Again, in Isaiah, our Lord says, ^^ As birds 
flying, so will I defend Jerusalem/' In the literal sense 
of this passage we get nothing ; but, in the sj)iritual 
sense, we have a general or universal truth. For the 
Lord never defends a church, or an individual, but 
as birds flying. It is only by the influx of true 
thoughts, from the Lord, as birds flying, that we can 
obtain any true knowledge of the Lord, have true faith, 
see the way of life, and make a successful defence 
against our evils. This is the only way the Lord can 
defend Jerusalem or the Church. When the church 
in ourselves or in the community is in danger, we must 
have true thoughts, and we must let them fly from 
mind to mind, or the church wiU not be defended. 
For the Lord expressly says, ^^ As birds flying , so will 
I defend Jerusalem." 

And in Jeremiah, otir Lord, in speaking of the 
people of His church, says, ^^ As a cage is full of birds, 
so are their houses full of deceit." Now what simi- • 
larity can there be between the deceit of the human 
mind and a cage full of birds, upon which, even an 



88 BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 

apology for a metaphor can be founded ? Not any. 
No good sense can be drawn from it^ unless we attach 
a quality to the birds of a deceitful character. But if 
birds mean thoughts^ all is consistent. For thoughts 
are often deceitful ; and their houses would be filled 
with deceit as a cage or mind is filled with false 
thoughts. 

Again^ in Jeremiah^ the Lord says^ of the people, 
^^ How long shall the land mourn, . . . for the wicked- 
ness of them that dwell therein ? the beasts are con- 
sumed, and the birds.^' (xii. 4.) Now, if, by this pas- 
sage we understand, by land the good ground of the 
heart, by beasts the affections, and by birds the 
thoughts, we shall see the propriety and the use of 
the teaching. For this was actually the state of the 
Jewish Church — ^Hhe beasts were consumed, and the 
birds,'" i. e., good affections and true thoughts were 
gone or destroyed. But the natural beasts and birds 
were all on the earth as usual. 

And the Lord again says, by the same prophet, 
" Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird ; the 
birds round about are against her/' (xii. 9.) Now, 
why is the church here compared to a speckled bird ? 
Is not a speckled bird as good as any other ? And, 
why is it said that the other birds are against the 
speckled one ? Do the birds of this world fight the 
speckled ones more than others ? It is impossible to 
draw any rational instruction from this passage with- 
out coming to the spiritual sense. But all is clear if 
we call the speckled bird an adulterated state of the 
mind, by mixing up truths and falsities together ; the 



BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 89 

white spots indicating truths^ and the black ones falsi- 
ties^ so that the thoughts are presented^ partly true 
and partly false — a speckled bird. True thoughts 
would then be against her on account of her falsities ; 
and false ones^ on account of her truths — the birds 
round about would be against her. A church, or a 
professed Christian, must be true, or the people round 
about, or out of the church, will condemn him — the 
community will be against a speckled bird. 

In Eevelation, speaking of the church as a city, or 
rather, as to doctrines, it says, '^ Babylon the great is 
fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, 
and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every 
unclean and hateful bird.'' (xviii. 2.) Here is de- 
scribed a fallen and depraved state of the mind. Devils 
and foul spirits belong to minds and to false doc- 
trines, not to natural cities. And there too dwell all 
unclean and hateful thoughts, not natural birds. How 
true it is that a fallen and corrupt mind is a cage of 
such birds ! 

In the 39th chapter of Ezekiel we have the strange 
words of our text. '^ And thou son of man, thus saith 
the Lord God ; speak unto every feathered fowl, and to 
every beast of the field. Assemble yourselves, and come ; 
gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I 
do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the 
mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink 
blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink 
the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, 
and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 
Thus ye shall be filled at my table with 



90 BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 

horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all 
men of war, saith the Lord God/' Now, whoever 
looks into this wonderful jDassage of Holy Writ, and 
believes it to be the AVord of God to man, and '^ prof- 
itable for doctrine,'' must come to the conclusion that 
God either has given, or will yet give to man, some rule 
or law other than the literal meaning, by which its true 
signification may be understood. If he has not come 
to this conclusion, he is in doubt about its ever being 
understood, with any degree of certainty, or even of its 
being the Word of God at all. If any one does not be- 
lieve what I say, let him faithfully examine the passage 
without the aid of correspondences, and see if I have 
not met his case. 

A person may give his assent to a thing without 
weighing it, and think he believes, when he really 
knows nothing about it. No faith is worthy the name 
where the believer does not rationally see something of 
the truth of what he believes. And all who are ac- 
quainted with the science of correspondences, well know, 
that the above quotation from Ezekiel cannot be un- 
derstood without the light of that science. What sort 
of chariots can they be which every feathered fowl and 
every beast of the field are to be filled with at this 
feast ? By what rule of metaphor can be drawn any 
rational conclusions from the declaration that the beasts 
and birds, by eating the flesh of the mighty, and drink- 
ing the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of 
lambs, of goats and of bullocks, will thereby be fiUed, 
at the Lord's table, with horses and chariots, with 
mighty men and all men of war ? But when the cor- 



BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 91 

respondences of beasts and birds^ horses and chariots, 
flesh and bloody princes and mighty men, and rams, 
lambs, goats, and bullocks, are seen, then the passage 
becomes divine Scripture, profitable for doctrine. 

This passage treats, prophetically, of the estab- 
lishment of the church in the mind of man, by the 
Lord, at His second coming. The assembling together 
of every feathered fowl, and every beast of the field, 
means, the bringing of all the thoughts and affections 
into harmonious contemplation of the Holy Word and 
of the Lord's will ; and by eating flesh and drinking 
blood, means for these thoughts and affections to ap- 
propriate to themselves divine good and divine truth ; 
for flesh signifies good and blood truth. Chariots de- 
note doctrines, and horses, the understanding of doc- 
trines ; so that to be filled with horses and chariots, is 
to understand and receive the doctrines. The fiesh and 
blood of princes and mighty men, and of rams and 
lambs, and goats and bullocks mean, goods and truths 
from the Lord through others ; for these beasts denote 
good affections. We receive goods and truths through 
each other. When persons love these goods and truths 
and love each other, they give and receive these heavenly 
blessings. The rams and lambs, and goats and bul- 
locks, mean the various good affections of the people, 
through which they impart to each other the goodness 
and truth of the Lord. 

How beautifully and forcibly are we here called upon, 
by the Lord, to call together at His Holy supper, or 
whenever we come into social worship, all our affections 
and thoughts, or beast and birds, that they may feast 



92 BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 

upon the goods and truths of heaven^ the flesh and 
blood for our souls, freely imparted from heart to heart 
and from mind to mind, until our understandings are 
filled with the heavenly doctrines, or with horses and 
chariots ; and our hearts overflow with love and good 
will. In this blessed way the whole beclouded book of 
Ezekiel becomes, by this divine science, a free and open 
fountain of living water — a river flowing from the 
throne of Jehovah — a city whose gates are ever open, 
emitting a light and heat which reach both the head 
and the heart. 

That chariots denote doctrines, a little fair exami- 
nation must convince any one. In the Psalms we have 
this apparently strange expression: ^'At thy rebuke, 
God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast 
into a dead sleep.'' (Ixxvi. 6.) Now, that a chariot 
could not be put to sleep, is certain. But, that doc- 
trines could become passive in man's mind, and even 
pass into forgetful ness, is also certain. And in our 
text it is seen that birds and beasts could not be filled 
with chariots ; but that thoughts and affections can be 
filled with doctrines. 

We read of chariots of fire, but we can have no ra- 
tional idea of such things, literally. But when we 
know that chariot means doctrines, and fire love, we 
have something for the mind to feed upon. For the 
doctrine of love or of life, is a heavenly doctrine. And 
by this knowledge we can see why it was that Elijah 
and Elisha were called the chariots of Israel and the 
horsemen thereof. For they who have the doctrines of 
the church in their understandings and live them, are 



BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 93 

mentally^ the chariots of Israel and the horsemen there- 
of. It is because Elisha loved the doctrines of the Holy- 
Word and had them in his understanding that there 
were seen a chariot and horses of fire when Elijah went 
up by a whirlwind. For chariot of fire means doc- 
trine of love. Were we progressing rapidly toward 
the heavenly state^ by the doctrines of love to God and 
the neighbor^ our spiritual state would correspond to 
chariots of fire. And the laws of the spiritual world 
are such that a person^ with his spiritual eyes opened, 
would behold the state of our mind, by seeing near us, 
chariots of fire. 

This was what the young man, mentioned in 2 
Kings, saw, where it is written, ^^ And Elisha prayed, 
and said. Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may 
see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man ; 
and he saw : and behold, the mountain was full of 
horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.'' (vi. 
17.) Otherwise, what does this passage mean ? Could 
there be such things as horses and chariots of fire in 
this world ? Yet, the understanding could be filled 
with the doctrines of the Word and they could be ar- 
dently loved. And that state of mind would correspond 
to horses and chariots of fire. I am aware that it 
seems very strange to the natural mind that these 
states and qualities of the mind ishould be manifested 
in form, in the spiritual world. But, how can the 
qualities of things be seen without form to manifest 
them ? 

Everything in the other world is mental. It is a 
world of mind — a world of spiritual bodies, and of 



94 BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 

thoughts and feelings. And if we could not see their 
formS; there would be no scenery there. It is the same 
world that we have here^ only here it is clothed with 
matter. Therefore the things here correspond to things 
of the mind. Now, that a chariot should be the mani- 
fest form of doctrine, may be quite rationally seen by 
comparative illustration ; but to be truly and clearly 
seen, we must behold it in the light of correspondence. 
To illustrate by comparison : — a chariot is composed 
of various parts, harmoniously put together, forming a 
whole. Its use is to carry our natural bodies on a nat- 
ural journey. Doctrines consist of various principles 
of truth, all harmoniously arranged, for the rational 
conception of the human mind ; calculated to enlight- 
en, elevate, and give spiritual progress to the mind 
that receives them. Thus they constitute a sj)iritual 
chariot. To behold this chariot, is to see the doc- 
trines ; to get into it, is to love them ; and to ride in 
it, is to live them. And as we ride on, the chariot it- 
self becomes more and more beautiful, presenting new 
combinations and arrangements of principles and parts, 
making it more and more perfect and heavenly. For 
the deeper and more hidden excellencies of its internal 
qualities are constantly presenting themselves. We 
are struck with the beauty of the leading outlines of 
this chaf iot, when we first get a fair view of the Trini- 
ty, Atonement, Fall, regeneration, resurrection, judg- 
ment, &c. Every part is so perfectly fitted to the 
others. All is symmetry and harmony. ^We know 
that this chariot will run well : for the truths are seen 
by their own light, and become self-evidently true. 



BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 95 

Now^ the Lord is often said^ in the Word^ to ride in 
chariots. But^ who can know what it means^ nnless 
he knows that chariots mean doctrines ? If he knows 
this he has something tangible and definite in the in- 
struction. For he can see that the Lord can come to 
ns in doctrines. And he may know that He does so 
come. When we behold the doctrines of the New 
Church from an affection for them^ they become to us 
fixed and eternal verities. They are seen in their own 
light^ and become the indisputable evidence of their 
own truth^ because they are felt as well as seen to be 
true. Therefore they become a chariot that we feel 
safe to ride in. We are not afraid of losing a wheel, 
nor of being upset or thrown over a precipice in the 
end. And if our horses are well trained and governed ; 
that is, if our understanding of the doctrines be clear ; 
and we keep the bit well watched, or keep the under- 
standing from breaking over the rules of the Holy City 
and running wild, our journey to the promised land, in 
this chariot, will be not only safe but highly de- 
lightful. 

In the 7th verse of the 20th Psalm we read, ^^ Some 
trust in chariots, and some in horses ; but we will re- 
member the name of the Lord our God.'' Here, ^^ char- 
iots '' denotes false doctrines, and ^^ horses '' self-derived 
intelligence. And we must not trust in these; but in the 
qualities of the Lord. For name signifies quality; and 
God's qualities are goods and truths. For by chariots 
are not always meant true doctrines, nor by horses, 
truth in the understanding. These, as well as other 
thingS; have their opposite signification. As in Ezek. 



96 BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 

xxvi. 7, 8, 10, 11, '' Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus 
Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, a king of kings, from 
the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with 
horsemen, and companies, and much people. He shall 
slay with the sword thy daughters in the field : and he 
shall make a fort against thee. ... By reason of the 
abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee ; 
thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and 
of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter 
into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a 
breach. With the hoofs of his horses will he tread 
down all thy streets : he shall slay thy people by the 
sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the 
ground.'' Here we have a prophecy of the destruction 
of the church, or of the principles of good and truth in 
the people. The king of Babylon is falsehood in do- 
minion : his chariots and horses are false doctrines in 
the understanding. The north, from which he comes, 
is darkness. Daughters mean good principles ; and 
the field means the affections or will. So that, to slay 
the daughters of the field, is to destroy the good quali- 
ties of the mind. The walls, which are shaken and the 
garrisons thrown down, are the doctrines destroyed. 
The sword which he uses is falsehood against the truth. 
The dust with which he covers the people, is the low- 
est and most external naturalism. 

What a Fountain of wisdom we have before us, in 
the Holy Word, as opened by correspondences ! Let 
us not despair because it is infinite, nor because we can- 
not comprehend more of it at once. Think of how 
much more we know, than we did before we saw this 



BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 97 

light. And remember that the Teacher is infinite. 
Jesus will ever help us in the study of His Word if we 
look to Him. It is truly He that opens the book^ for 
a clear and satisfactory vision. 

First ; we have the light of the science of Theology 
presented to our natural reason^ so that we begin to see 
its philosophy by a new and heavenly law. If we ap- 
ply it to our hearts, in obedience to the truth, the 
books of our own understandings will be opened by the 
spirit of Jesus : all doubts will flee away, and we shall 
go on the heavenly way together rejoicing, in new light 
and new life. Every day will bring us something new, 
and a new appetite to enjoy it. Love growing warmer, 
friendships stronger, the Lord more lovely and heaven 
more bright, 

5 



CHAPTEE YI. 

THE SYMBOLIC MEANING AND USE OF HORSES. 

^^ And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse ; and He 
that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteous- 
ness he doth judge and make war. And the armies which were 
in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in line linen, 
white and clean." — Eev. xix. 11, 14. 

What a scene for heaven ! The Most High God, 
the Creator of the universe, marshalled at the head of 
mighty armies, all upon snow-white horses, and clothed 
in fine linen, white and clean : and this Infinite Com- 
mander, leading the countless hosts to hattle ; with a 
sharp sword going out of His mouth ; His eyes as a 
flame of fire, and His head surmounted with crowns 
upon crowns, many in number; with the significant 
motto upon his vesture and thigh, KING- OF KINGS 
AND LOKD OF LOEDS ! What a scene of sub- 
limity ! How awfully grand and exciting even to 
natural thought ! But we are not enough awake to 
truly imagine its grandeur. Could we peer, with our 
natural vision, into the open firmament and behold 
such a scene, how utterly we should be lost in wonder 
and dismay ! Such a magnificent army of horsemen, 



HOKSES. 99 

with an Almighty Commander^ all upon such proud, 
white steeds, rushing through the vaulted skies to 
battle, would be completely overwhelming to every 
earthly beholder ! 

Yet this is the plain literal description, given in the 
sublime language of Jehovah, of a spiritual scene which 
we may all realize and enjoy. A scene which will 
prove equally wonderful and captivating to our souls ; 
for it will open our minds to a clear understanding of 
the nature of this divine warfare, present us with beau- 
tiful white horses, enable us to join the mighty armies 
of heaven, and to follow the Great Commander on to 
victory and glory. But as it is a spiritual scene, he 
who would behold it, must find it in the human mind. 
The heaven which John saw opened, and where he be- 
held these wonders, was that heaven which ^^ cometh 
not with observation,'^ it is not ^^Lo, here, nor lo, 
there,'^ but within the human mind. 

Let us then turn our thoughts inward to the proper 
field of action, that we may learn the divine lesson 
taught in the text ; and join the armies of heaven ; and 
fight the battles of Jehovah, like faithful soldiers of 
the cross. But how can we learn this divine lesson ? 
We must learn it, in humble dependence upon the 
Lord, through the light of the divine Truth ; by look- 
ing through the natural symbols of the Word, up to 
the spiritual realities ; remembering that '' the invis- 
ible things of God from the creation of the world are 
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are 
made.'" But, what invisible things can we behold in 
the human mind through the symbol of a white horse ? 



100 HORSES. 

In that symbol^ we may see represented, the truth of 
the Word in man's understanding. How can we know, 
beyond a doubt, that a white horse denotes the under- 
standing of the truth ? We may know it from the 
study of the symbols of the Holy Word ; for therein 
God clearly teaches it by correspondence. 

The Book of Nature and the Holy Word are God's 
two great books. Both speak the same language — the 
language of divine and human thoughts and feelings. 
But man's words, in tliis age are arbitrary signs of ideas. 
We must first learn their definitions, and keep them in 
the memory, before we can know what ideas they sig- 
nify. But God's words contain their definitions in 
their qualities. And we should see them there if we 
were spiritually minded. Words are called signs of 
ideas. Now, all the things of nature are signs of 
ideas. They are living signs of living ideas, and they 
must bespeak, by their life and quality, the ideas 
which formed them and which constantly give them 
life and character. Indeed, there can be no other pure 
language — no other full and perfect signs of ideas — no 
other certain expression of the various qualities of 
human souls, than the symbols of nature. For the 
human mind constantly receives life from the Lord, and 
that life flows down through man into nature, carrying 
with it the qualities of the human passions and propen- 
ities ; and thus making nature, at all times, a symbol 
of humanity as it is. 

Now, all language was drawn from the things of 
nature. '^ There is no speech nor language where 
their voice is not heard.'' But men have perverted 



HORSES. 101 

and corrupted the true language^ in thousands of ways, 
until they have lost sight of the real symbol, and see 
not the law of correspondences. They know not that 
the human mind is perfectly symbolized in nature, and 
that our thoughts and feelings, and all the various 
qualities of our souls^ can be accurately described in 
no other language ; and that the language of the Holy 
Word is, therefore, written in the speech of nature, by 
a universal law; and could be perfect and divine in no 
other language. Did the world see this, the ten 
thousand apparently strange and mysterious things of 
the Word, would soon lose their mystery, and open 
their heavenly treasures of light and life, to the souls 
of men. Then men would look into nature's signifi- 
cant mirror for a view of their mental qualities. And 
they would there behold 

Their Thoughts symbolized in the Birds, 
^^ Innocence ^^ '^ '' Lambs, 

'' Watchfulness and Combativeness in the Dogs, 
Selfishness and Indolence ^^ '' Hogs, 

Slyness and Artifice '' ^^ Foxes, 

Malice and Cruelty '' '' Wolves, 

Subtleness and Sensuality in the Serpents, and 
Understanding of Knowledge in the Horses. 

And so they might go on with their investigations, 
until they gained full possession of the lost key of 
analogy, which unlocks the divine casket of heavenly 
wisdom, and opens to the human mind, the spiritual 
truths of the Holy Word, in great glory and beauty. 
But in this discourse we must inquire particularly 



102 HORSES. 

into the correspondence and use of the horse, in the 
Divine Word. The Holy Word speaks much of horses, 
where every one must see that it cannot mean natural 
horses ; but must, in the divine language, mean some- 
thing of the human mind. Now, if we will only ad- 
mit that the term Tiorse means the understanding of 
knowledge, and read the Word with that idea in the 
mind, connected with other correspondences, all the 
strange passages of the Word, where the term horse is 
used, will be rationally understood. But if we should 
adopt any other signification, the passages could not 
be understood. We could make nothing out of them. 
The Word speaks of horses and their riders. The 
horses signify knowledge in the understanding, or 
the understanding of things, whether true or false. 
The riders are the persons themselves, who have this 
understanding and knowledge. If I have the truth in 
my understanding, my knowledge or understanding of 
that truth performs the same uses for my mind, that a 
horse does for my body. For by the knowledge of that 
truth, my mind travels or advances. If it be scientific 
truth, it carries me on in science. If it be spiritual 
truth, it takes me on my spiritual journey, as a horse 
takes me on a natural journey. By the divine truth 
incur understanding, we perform the heavenly jour- 
ney, passing around the mountains of sin, through the 
valleys of humility and repentance, along the streams 
of science, over the hills of charity and kindness, drink- 
ing at every crystal fountain of wisdom, avoiding the 
bogs and marshes of iniquity, and the thorny jungles 
of vice ; crossing the pleasant plains of peace and 



HORSES. 103 

plenty, till we find our heavenly home in the top of 
the Mountain of the Lord^ or in love to God and the 
neighbor. 

Without the understanding of divine truth, we could 
not possibly make spiritual progress. We rest and 
rely upon the understanding and power of the truth, as 
we rest and rely upon the ability and strength of our 
horse ; and there is a perfect correspondence between 
them. For the natural purposes, for which we use the 
horse, are perfectly analogous to the spiritual purposes 
for which we use our knowledge of the truth. 

Now, if, instead of the truth, our uiiderstanding be 
filled with false, absurd, and evil views, it will be like 
a wild, frantic, ungovernable horse, leaping all the 
fences or rules of law and order, starting at every new 
object, getting into mud and mire, and often jeopard- 
izing our life on the way. A man with such a mind 
needs to keep a strong bit and a straight rein over his 
headstrong understanding, or it will surely run away 
with him, and throw him among the rocks of error, on 
the wayside of destruction, or down the precipice of 
vice. 

Now, all the qualities of the horse prove the truth 
of this correspondence. His strength denotes the 
powers of our intellect ; his speed, the activity of our 
thought ; his great memory, our powers of recollection ; 
and, his sagacity, our quickness of perception. 

But now, to the law and the testimony for the proof 
of these things. The Lord, in prophesying of the 
future dark state of the church, says, through Zech. 
xii. 4, ^^ In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite 



104 HOKSES. 

every horse with astonishment, and his rider with mad- 
ness : and I will open mine eyes upon the house of 
Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with 
blindness/' This prophecy has reference to the state 
of the Jewish church when the Lord should come in 
the flesh. Now, this prophecy is fulfilled; and we 
know that every natural horse was not smitten with 
astonishment and blindness ; while we, at the same 
time, know that the understandings of the Jews be- 
came astonished, and were blind to the truths of the 
gospel ; and that they remain so to this day. 

Again, it is declared in Genesis xlix. 17, " Dan 
shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, 
that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall 
backward." Now, all see at once, that this can have 
no reference whatever to a natural serpent or horse. 
But we may also see that the debasing principle in man, 
to which the serpent corresponds, would, by its poison- 
ous bite, soon sicken and destroy the understanding of 
truth, to which the horse corresponds, and prostrate 
the rider in sin. 

In Habakkuk (iii. 8, 15) it is written, '' Thou 
[Lord] didst ride upon thine horses, thy chariots of 
salvation. Thou didst walk through the sea wdth 
thine horses.'' Now, all know that the Lord does not 
ride through space on natural horses, nor in . chariots, 
nor in the natural sea. For He is the Omnipresent 
God — everywhere at all times. But if the sea denotes 
man's knowledge ; horses his understanding ; chariots 
doctrines ; and the Lord, the Word of truth, the 
passage becomes exceedingly beautiful and instructive. 



HORSES. 105 

For^ with the Lord as the divine truth, in the under- 
standing, we can ride through the sea of our memory, 
examine all the qualities of our knowledge, and make 
that sea give up its dead ; or cast away all its false 
and evil principles. Thus the Lord, as the Truth, 
rides on the horses of men's understanding, or enables 
them to 23rogress in wisdom and goodness. And so it 
is that the Lord rides in the chariots of salvation, or 
in the doctrines of the Word. For the Lord is the 
Truth of those doctrines. And men's understandings 
of that truth are the horses of those chariots. And 
those who love and daily live in obedience to those 
heavenly doctrines, through the truth of them in the 
understanding, are riding with the Lord, in the char- 
iots of salvation. They are progressing heavenward 
with the Word of Truth. Thus, the darkness of the 
letter is everywhere made luminous by the brightness 
of the spirit. 

Who can tell, from the literal sense, why Elijah 
and Elisha were called the chariots of Israel and the 
horsemen thereof, (2 Kings ii. 12 ; xiii. 14.) And 
yet, the doctrines and truths of the Word, in their 
understandings, as prophets of the Lord, would make 
them, spiritually speaking, the chariots of Israel and 
the horsemen thereof. The Lord in Psalms is said to 
ride on the Word of Truth, Why so ? Simply be- 
cause, by the Word of Truth in the understanding, 
man makes spiritual progress, when he looks to the 
Lord to curb and guide that understanding in the use 
of that Word of Truth. 

In Psalm Ixxvi. 6, we have this apparently strange 

5:> 



106 HORSES. 

expression : ^^ At thy rebuke, God of Jacob, both 
the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep/' 
We, of course know that there can be no such thing 
as the waking or sleeping of a natural chariot. But 
if we have false views and false doctrines in our un- 
derstandings, our mental horse and chariot need the 
rebuke of the Lord. And if we yield to that rebuke, 
they will be cast into a dead sleep, and laid aside as 
useless. 

Now the Word speaks of White Horses , red horses, 
Black horses and pale horses. But the color of the 
horse always denotes the quality of the knowledge in 
the understanding. A white horse signifies true knowl- 
edge, or truth in the understanding, because white 
denotes truth. A black horse signifies false knowl- 
edge, or falsehood in the understanding, because black 
denotes falsehood. A red horse in a bad sense, signi- 
fies guilty knowledge, or crime and evil in the under- 
standing, because red in a bad sense, denotes sins. A 
pale horse signifies lifeless knowledge in the under- 
standing, or knowledge having no strength or power 
of good, because paleness denotes sickness or death. 

Now, all these kinds of horses are mentioned in the 
Word, where they can in no light whatever, mean 
natural horses. For these four horses are mentioned 
in the sixth chapter of Eevelation, as coming out of 
the Book when the seals were opened by the Lord. 
And though this prophecy relates to the last judgment 
in the spiritual world ; yet, let us apply it to our- 
selves individually, for all Scripture is applicable to 
individuals. 



HORSES. 107 

Now, the books which are opened at the Lord's 
second coming, are nothing else than the Holy Word 
and the books of life in human minds. The under- 
standings of men are opened to the reception of the 
light of the spiritual sense of the Word. The under- 
standing of this sense is really the white horse seen in 
the book of the human mind. This sense in the 
mind, is the Lord on a white horse ; or, in other words, 
it is the spiritual truth of the Word in the under- 
standing, coming to judgment. This white horse is 
seen at the breaking of the first seal, or when our 
mind first begins to receive, by correspondence, the 
spiritual sense of the Word in a rational light. Then, 
our understanding of the spiritual truth is the white 
horse. The new truth looks pure, white, glorious to 
us. And we behold the heavenly doctrines with great 
joy and delight. And we feel as though heaven were 
indeed near to us. 

But we have only been gazing outwardly at the 
glory and beauty of the truths ; and have not yet 
looked, by their light, in upon our evils. And the 
Lord now opens His Word still further to our mind, 
which opens the second seal of our book of life, and we 
begin to look into ourselves, in judgment ; _and what 
do we see ? Alas ! a red horse ! Our understanding 
is now filled with a view of our own evils. Our sins 
are before us, red as crimson. But the rider on the 
white horse, who entered our mind at the opening of 
the first seal, had a bow, which denotes power : and 
a crown was given Him, which denotes victory and 
dominion : and He went forth conquering and to con- 



108 HORSES. 

quer. Thus we have a bow and a crown offered to us 
by this heavenly truth^ which means that the Lord 
will give us power to gain dominion over our evils. 
For the Lord Himself is with us^ with the crown of 
His wisdom and the bow of His might. And^ not- 
withstanding the formidable appearance of the red 
horse and his mighty rider^ with his great sword^ and 
power to take peace from the earth ; yet we can^ with 
our white horse^ ride on, conquering and to conquer : 
we can overcome every evil. 

Then another seal of our book of life is opened ; and, 
as we look in, behold a black liorse presents himself, 
with a rider having a pair of balances in his hand. Our 
understanding is now filled with a view of our falses. 
By the spiritual light, we see our own selfish proprium, 
separate from what Grod gives us, and it is all deceit- 
fulness and untruth — black with dissimulation. We 
even see a pair of balances in our hand, which we are 
holding out to make the world believe we are honest 
and just. But, in our dependence upon the Lord, we 
can surely rout the black horse and his rider ; or the 
falsehoods and powers of the natural man ; but we 
must see that they hurt not the oil and Ihe wine, or 
things good and true. 

And the fourth seal of our book of life is opened, and 
as we survey our selfhood closely, by the divine light, 
we behold a pale horse^ whose rider is death ; and hell 
follows with him. It is a sad picture. Thus the book 
is opened gradually. We are not permitted to see our- 
selves all at once. Here, at the opening of this seal, 
we are brought to see ourselves as dead in trespasses 



HORSES. 109 

and sins. As having no good whatever of our own ; 
that death and hell are in every unregenerate human 
soul ; that everything good and true is of and from 
the Lord ; and that we shall receive them^ only as we 
conquer and overcome our evils^ by new life from the 
Lord^ in obedience to His Word. 

Thus the Lord^ as the divine Truth of the Word in 
its spiritual sense^ is coming to judgment. He comes 
with the law of analogy and the j)hilosophy of life ; and 
with them He opens the seals of our understanding and 
presents, to the free inquiring mind, a rational view of 
human nature, at this age of the world, in all its evils 
and falses. And how graphic the description and hu- 
miliating the scene ! How it tries the heart and the 
reins, as we see and feel the force of its truth ! And 
yet, he who sees and feels it, is ready to say, ^^Even 
so, come Lord Jesus :'' for he sees his selfishness, and 
feels his dependence. 

And how orderly the book is opened ! After the 
reception of the White Horse, or when we have seen, 
by the spiritual truth of the Word, a glimpse of its 
glorious doctrines, and commence looking into our- 
selves ; we first, by that light, behold our evils and 
their powers, expressed by a red horse and his rider ; 
next, our falses and their powers, by a black horse and 
his rider ; and then, our state of death and hell, by a 
pale horse and his rider. In the red and black horses, 
we see great strength and power. We see depicted all 
the energy and force of the hells. While in the pale 
horse, we see our own weakness and entire inability. 

Now as the pale horse comes after the red and black 



110 HORSES. 

ones^ we are further taught that spiritual death and 
hell are produced by the exercise of evil affections and 
false thoughts ; and that, consequently, life and heaven 
can be given, only in the exercise of good affections and 
true thoughts. And that these can be received from 
the Lord, only as we ride the white horse with the bow 
of the Holy Spirit and the crown of victory ; going 
forth against our evils and falses, conquering and to 
conquer ; acknowledging^ at the same time, that it is 
truly the Lord and His bow and His crown, that gain 
the victory. 

But dark and depraved as the picture of our soul 
appears, we are not to be discouraged. For the open- 
ing of the fifth seal shows us the good things which the 
merciful Lord has stored up and protected within us. 
As that seal is opened it is said that we see, under the 
altar, the souls of them that were slain for the Word 
of Grod ; and that white robes were given them. Now 
what can this mean ? Like all other things of the 
Word, we must look within for them ; for souls are 
elements of life given us by God. And when we use 
this Scripture, as applied to ourselves individually, 
these souls that were slain for the Word of God mean 
all the good and kind germs of heaven which were im- 
planted in us during our infancy and childhood ; and 
which, though they have been slain and buried by our 
disorderly lives, yet, are not destroyed. The merciful 
Lord has guarded them. And now the divine goodness 
and truth flow down into them, and white robes are 
given them. They rise to life and shine with the truth. 
Thus all the honest, true, virtuous, and affectionate 



HORSES. Ill 

principles of our whole life, which have sprung from 
these germs, and yet have been lying dormant for want 
of light, but which were internally regarded by us, are 
now separated from our evils, and raised to light and 
life. Nothing good is lost. And we are now enabled 
to see, by the heavenly light, that while, in and of our- 
selves, we are spiritually dead ; yet, that the Lord is 
light and life for us. That He has freely given to every 
one all the germs and elements of heaven. And that 
He guards and protects these germs and elements of 
heaven with all care ; but that they can never be de- 
veloped into a human soul, of angelic form and beauty, 
without our cooperation. That the goats, in us, must 
be separated from the sheep, by our free opposition to 
them, and be cast out of the fold. And that every 
principle which God has given us — all the lambs of the 
fold — must look to the Good Shepherd for sustenance, 
and obey His voice. 

And now the sixth seal of our book of life is opened. 
And as we look in, we behold, exhibited, our dark re- 
ligious views before we saw the spiritual light. We 
see the false ideas we then had of God ; of the trinity ; 
of the fall ; of redemption ; of regeneration ; of resur- 
rection ; of judgment ; of heaven ; and of hell. We 
behold, in the light of heavenly truth, the whole pic- 
ture in its own dark colors. And we see it to be con- 
trary to the whole Word of God, in its true literal and 
spiritual senses. And it is declared in the prophecy 
that, at the beholding of this scene, ^^ there was a great 
earthquake ; and the sun became black as sackcloth of 
hair, and the moon became as blood ; and the stars of 



112 HORSES. 

heaven fell/' This graphic picture describes the ap- 
pearance of onr former system of faith^ as seen in the 
light of truth. And we now behold it as without sun, 
moon or stars ; entirely destitute of all true light and 
life. It trembles and quakes before the light of truth. 
And with astonishment, that we ever could have be- 
lieved it, we roll it together as a scroll, and put it out 
of sight. Thus, the imaginary heaven of our former 
theology, passes away from our mind, and we turn our 
faces, with renewed joy and delight, toward the new 
heaven, which God is creating within us ; where all is 
light and glorious in the Lord ; and only our remain- 
ing evils and falses look dark. For we are now closing 
and putting by our old book of life, with all that we be- 
lieved and loved that is false and evil, and retaining all 
that is good, and are turning to the new book of love 
to Grod and man. Now, an entirely new theology is 
filling our heart and mind. Old things with us are 
passing away, and the Lord is making all things new. 
The New Jerusalem is coming down ; and we are pre- 
paring to join the armies of heaven that follow the 
Lord on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and 
clean. For this great army comprises those who have 
the spiritual truth of the Word in their understand- 
ings. And their white horses are nothing but the un- 
derstanding of that truth. And their white clothing 
is nothing but the pure, spotless character which their 
love and devotion to the truth manifest in their sphere. 
Their warfare is against nothing but the evils and 
falses which infest humanity, destroying all true peace 
and happiness. The horse of their Commander is 



HORSES. 113 

nothing but their own understanding of the truth of 
the Word. It is therefore not a horse out of their 
minds^ but in them. And the Commander Himself — 
the ^^King of kings and Lord of lords'' — is that very- 
divine truth of the Word. He is, therefore, not their 
commander out of them, but in their understandings ; 
though He fills the universe. 

And the many crowns which He wears are a crown 
each, for every mind He enters. And it becomes an 
ensign of victory to the man that wears it as he, 
through the Lord, conquers the death and hell of his 
soul. And the crown itself, is nothing but the domin- 
ion which truth gains over his evils and falsities. And 
the sharp sword, which went out of the Lord's mouth, 
is nothing but the divine truth, which He speaks. 
But it is indeed a sharp sword against everything im- 
pure and unholy, going forth for their eternal disper- 
sion and destruction, from every heart that wields it. 

And it is our blessed privilege, in the spiritual light 
of the Word which we now have, to make use of this 
divine sword as true and faithful soldiers of the cross. 
King of kings and Lord of lords therefore means, the 
Lord Jesus Christ as the divine truth of the Word, 
with power and great glory, coming to establish His 
kingdom over all the earth, by entering all human 
minds that will receive Him ; presenting them with 
the bow of His power and the crown of His might ; 
and riding on with them, in their understandings, con- 
quering and to conquer, until every evil spirit shall be 
driven from our earth, and every sinful desire subdued 
among all nations and kindreds and tongues and peo- 



114 HORSES. 

pie : when peace shall rest in every bosom, joy beam 
from every face, and plenty crown every board. And 
then, in view of the future life, the departure from this 
world will be cheerfully welcomed by every individual, 
whenever it shall please the Lord to say to that indi- 
vidual, Come. Come, my child. Come home to your 
Father's house of many mansions. ^^ Thou hast been 
faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over 
many things : enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.'' 
(Matt. XXV. 21.) 



CHAPTEE VII. 

THE CORRESPONDENCE OF TREES. 

" The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in 
Lebanon, saying. Give thy daughter to my son to wife." (2 
Kings xiv. 9.) 

We speak this evening upon the spiritual meaning 
of trees, and their relation to the human mind by cor- 
respondences. A person who has never examined the 
Holy Word with regard to the signification of the trees 
and their use in the divine language, would be much 
surprised and benefited by a candid and sincere inves- 
tigation of this subject. How few persons there are, 
even of those who read the sacred volume, who are 
really aware that the trees are treated of as though 
they were rational beings, having understandings and 
wills and muscular powers, so that they walk and talk 
and laugh and sing and worship and rejoice and clap 
their hands ; are sometimes in great happiness, and at 
others, in great misery ; now strong, and now weak 
even to fainting ; one day in an Eden of glory, and the 
next going down to hell. 

To those who look not beyond the literal sense of the 
Word, such things are little noticed when read. The 



116 TREES 

meaning not being seen^ no impression is left on the 
mind ; and the reader is hardly sensible that the "Word 
contains any such ideas. Thus a great portion of the 
Holy Word is of but little use to such minds. For 
where no rational and practical meaning is seen in the 
letter, the deeper and more glorious spirit, the inner 
beauty and excellence, must be brought out to view, 
or the mind will be left uninterested and uninstructed : 
and the sacred Word will lose much of its value and 
influence. 

What can the literalist learn from our text ? He 
will say, it is figurative. And there he must stop if 
he sees not the lav/ of analogy. He may guess, and 
guess again; but he cannot certainly know why the Lord 
said, ^^ The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the 
cedar that was in Lebanon, saying. Give thy daughter 
to my son to wife ;'' for, to know this, he must know 
what principles in the mind are meant by the natural 
things mentioned. 

And so David says in prayer, ^' Purge me with hyssop 
and I shall be clean ;" and we, in our worship repeat 
the same prayer. But we are privileged to know, by 
the spiritual light of the word, that by hyssop is meant 
external truth, which is a means of purification. And 
when we say, ^^ Purge me with hyssop," we mean, 
Cleanse me with truth. But, without the science of cor- 
respondences, whose eye beholds this passage and attach- 
es any positive or certain signification to hyssop ? Yet 
how interesting it must be, to one who is thirsting for 
the pure water of life, to know definitely what the Lord 
means when He speaks. But. how can we knov/ that 



TREES. 117 

hyssop denotes natural truth ? If we were far enough 
advanced to see the relation between natural things and 
mental^ we should know at once. But not having that 
knowledge^ we must look to the Holy Word and to the 
revealed science of correspondences for it. In the first 
place we know^ by the general law^ that as God is Love 
and Wisdom ; and that Love and Wisdom are com- 
posed of goods and truths in infinite variety^ forming 
a perfect whole ; and as all natural things were created 
by, or sprang from that infinite goodness and truth, so 
each natural thing must correspond to some truth or 
some good either in true or in inverted order. And as 
we further know, that purging or cleansing of the 
mind, must be done by truths ; we may therefore see 
that as hyssop is always used in the Word for cleans- 
ing, it must .denote natural truth in its cleansing prop- 
erties. For the various loves of self, from which we 
are to be purified, cannot be known but by the light 
of natural truth, and therefore cannot be otherwise 
removed. For truths cannot be used for cleansing 
until they are known : because cleansing is a work 
which cannot be done in the dark. We may therefore 
see, from the general light before us, that to purge 
with hyssop must mean to cleanse with truths. There- 
fore hyssop is always used, wherever it occurs in the 
Word, for cleansing. 

Cedar wood and hyssop are sometimes mentioned in 
connection, for cleansing, where cedar means internal 
or spiritual truths, and hyssop external or natural 
truths. That hyssop denotes lower truth and cedar 
higher, is evident from 1 Kings iv. 33, where it speaks of 



118 TREES. 

^' trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even 
unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall :'' thus 
embracing the whole range of truths, from spiritual 
to natural. 

Trees in general, in a good sense, signify the mem- 
bers of the church, or the church in them, as to intel- 
ligence from its doctrines, and from the truths of the 
Word. Sometimes they denote the good desires men 
feel, and the works they perform. In a bad sense, they 
signify the opposites of these. 

The natural forest has long been admired as an em- 
blem of the human family. For in the woods, as 
among men, are all ages, from the great-great-grand- 
father down to infancy ; and the prior generations lie 
scattered on the ground. We behold the beautiful 
tree and the ugly, the wholesome and the poisonous, the 
perfect and the injured, the fruitful and the barren, the 
free and the cross-grained, the smooth and the thorny, 
the crooked and the straight, the healthy and the sick, 
the living and the dead ; the black, white, red, brown 
and yellow ; some dying of good old age, others swept 
away by the tornado in the bloom of youth, and others 
crushed in infancy and childhood. Thus the forest, in 
a natural point of view, is a beautiful emblem of the 
human family. 

But the scene becomes doubly interesting and im- 
portant when we perceive that there is a perfect and 
eternal law of analogy between mankind and the trees, 
both cultivated and uncultivated. When we under- 
stand that the varieties and qualities of the trees are 
the result of the varieties and qualities of the spiritual 



TREES. 119 

states^ principles and propensities of men ; and that 
all that is said of them^ in the Word; is symbolically 
expressive of the qualities of men's hearts and minds ; 
and that in these familiar symbols^ we may learn hu- 
man nature, and the will of our heavenly Father, and 
the way of eternal life, and behold the invisible things 
of God from the creation of the world : — I say, When 
we understand this, we are prepared to say with the 
Psalmist, '^ The trees of the Lord are full of sap ; 
the cedars of Lebanon, which He hath planted/^ 
^^ Praise ye Him, sun and moon : praise Him, all ye 
stars of light/' ^' Mountains, and all hills ; fruitful 
trees, and all cedars : beasts, and all cattle. . . , Praise 
ye the Lord.'' For in saying this we are only calling 
upon man to praise the Lord with all the principles and 
elements of his nature, to which these natural things 
correspond. 

In Judges, we have this singular parable. " The 
trees went forth to anoint a king over them ; and they 
said unto the olive-tree, Eeign thou over us. But the 
olive-tree said unto them. Should I leave my fatness, 
wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to 
be promoted over the trees ? And the trees said to the 
fig-tree. Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig- 
tree said unto them. Should I forsake my sweetness, 
and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees ? 
Then said the trees unto the vine. Come thou, and 
reign over us. And the vine said unto them. Should I 
leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go 
to be promoted over the trees ? Then said all the trees 
unto the bramble^ Come thou, and reign over us. And 



120 TREES. 

the bramble said unto the trees^ If in truth ye anoint 
me king over you, then come and put your trust in my 
shadow : and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, 
and devour the cedars of Lebanon/' (ix. 8-15.) 

Before the spiritual sense of this parable can be 
known, it must be understood what is meant by the 
olive-tree, the fig-tree, the vine, and the bramble. 
The olive-tree here signifies celestial good ; the vine, 
spiritual good ; the fig-tree, natural good ; and the 
bramble, spurious good. By celestial good we mean 
that principle or state of heart which loves God or 
goodness supremely: by spiritual good, that state 
which loves the Word or truth supremely : and by 
natural good, that state which loves kind words or use 
supremely : but by spurious good, we mean a perverted 
state of heart, which loves evil and self supremely. 

The trees, in this parable, denote the people of the 
kingdom of Israel, in that age, who had become so cor- 
rupt that they would not be ruled by the Lord. They 
also denote any people of any age who are thus cor- 
rupt. By the refusal of the olive-tree to reign over 
them, we learn that they were too low to be governed 
by internal or celestial goodness, or by love to God. 
For the olive-tree says. Should I leave my fatness, 
wherewith by me they honor God and man ? This 
fatness denotes the good of celestial love, or love to 
God. Therefore to be their king, the olive-tree would 
have to leave his fatness before the trees would pro- 
mote him. For when the olive-tree replied to their 
call, saying. Shall I leave my fatness, wherewith they 
honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the 



TREES. 121 

trees ? they made no reply, but turned to the fig-tree. 
Gladly would the olive-tree have reigned over them, 
had they yielded to his goodness. 

By the refusal of the fig-tree, we learn that they 
were too depraved to submit to the government of even 
external or natural good springing from the love of 
obedience. For the fig-tree says, Should I forsake my 
sweetness, and my good fruit ? And what is more 
sweet than natural kindness and mercy carried out in 
good works or fruits ? The people were not willing to 
come under the laws of good works and do as they 
would be done by. And they would not promote the 
fig-tree, unless he would forsake these heavenly princi- 
ples, and give them laws more in accordance with their 
self-love. 

By the refusal of the vine, we learn that they would 
not be governed by spiritual goodness, springing from 
the love of truth. For the vine said. Should I leave 
my wine, which cheereth God and man ? They were 
not willing to love the truth, and be governed by that 
love : and therefore, they would not promote the vine, 
unless he would throw off that restraint from his gov- 
ernment. 

But, by their consenting to be governed by the bram- 
ble, they show that they were in the love of perverted 
goodness ; of hypocrisy and selfhood ; and so they 
chose that these principles of their nature, represented 
by the bramble, should govern their conduct. They 
were willing to put themselves under the darkening 
shadow of their own licentiousness — the vile bramble of 
self-love. And here they expected to be satisfied and 

6 



122 TREES. 

happy. But as predicted^ fire- came out of the bramble 
and devoured the cedars of Lebanon ; or^ in other 
words^ the lusts of evil and self-love destroyed in them 
all the remaining principles of truth and good. 

This parable, though particularly applicable to the 
age in which it was written, comes, with its blessed in- 
struction, like all other portions of the divine Word, to 
every individual of depraved humanity in all ages ; and 
it proposes to him the solemn question, By what are 
you governed ? the olive, the fig, the vine, or the 
bramble ? And how shall we individually answer ? 
Who can say he is governed by the olive — the pure love 
of interior goodness ? To whom of us does not the 
olive-tree say, Should I leave my fatness to be pro- 
moted over you ? Or who is willing to submit to the 
pure government of the olive ? None of us is ready to 
say he is governed by that pure love. And who of us 
can say he has the vine for a governor ? Who feels 
that he is governed, in his conduct, by the pure love of 
the truth ? To whom does not the vine say. Should I 
leave my wine — my heavenly truth — and come down 
to your state and receive your selfish promotion ? Yes, 
we ask, who is entirely ready to fully submit to the 
government of spiritual truth ? I know of none that 
would say I, to this question. And who can even say 
he is governed by the fig-tree — the full love of natural 
goodness — whereby he obediently and affectionately 
keeps the commandments of his divine Master ? It is 
a great deal to be in so good a state as not to have the 
fig-tree say. Should I forsake my sweetness, and my 
good fruit, in order to gain your approbation and re- 



TREES. 123 

ceive your vote to become your king ? I do not know 
who considers himself fully governed by the fig-tree. 

Sad, th^n, indeed is the spiritual state of mankind, 
even in this age of freedom and science. The most 
that the best are willing to say is, that they hope they 
are, to some extent, governed by these heavenly prin- 
ciples of the Lord ; and that they are praying and 
striving, by the powers of the blessed Spirit, to become 
wholly released from the brambles of self-love. 

But the question is asked. How are we to know that 
the olive, vine and fig-tree mean what is here stated ? 
Are we to take a man's word for it ? We answer. No : 
God's Word clearly teaches it. In the first place, with 
these significations of these trees, we have rational in- 
struction, from the parable explained, and receive from 
it useful rules of life. But, without the spiritual 
meaning, it teaches us nothing. Here is at once an evi- 
dence of its truth. 

The olive-tree signifies celestial good, from the qual- 
ity of the tree. It is a tree of oil. Oil denotes this 
goodness. Oil burns, and its fire denotes love. So 
celestial goodness burns with heavenly love, to the Lord. 
It is for this reason that it is said, in prophecy, through 
Jeremiah, of the church, when in order, ^^ The Lord 
called thy name, A green olive-tree, fair, and of goodly 
fruit.'' Now, for a church or an individual to be a 
green olive-tree, fair, and of goodly fruit, is to be alive 
in love to the Lord, bearing the fruits of kindness and 
love to the neighbor. That olive-trees mean celestial 
principles of the mind, or men of those principles, is 
evident from the condition in which olive-trees were 



124 TREES. 

seen in the spiritual world. For nothing exists or is 
seen in ihe spiritual world^ but principles of the mind 
and the persons from whom those principles are mani- 
fest ; for that is a world of mind. 

Zechariah saw two olive-trees in the spiritual world. 
They were called the two anointed ones that stand by 
the 'Lord of the whole earth. They were seen standing 
by two golden candlesticks. And they are called the 
two witnesses. And the candlesticks are also called the 
two witnesses. Now, that these candlesticks and olive- 
trees denote principles of the mind, we may know, by 
their being called the two witnesses. Saint John saw 
these witnesses, and says, '' These are the two olive- 
trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God 
of the earth.'' These two witnesses are love to God 
and the neighbor. They signify man's heavenly state 
of mind. These principles are the witnesses, or evi- 
dences of our preparation for heaven. And they who 
possess them are called olive-trees. Thus, David, who 
represented the Lord, says, ^^I am like a green olive- 
tree in the house of my God." 

That the vine denotes, in this parable, spiritual 
goodness, or spiritual truth loved, is abundantly evi- 
dent from the Word ; indeed we could cite a volume. 
The Lord, as to His spiritual principle, as the Word, 
which is the truth, says, ^^I am the vine." And the 
fact that wine corresponds to spiritual truth, is evi- 
dence enough. 

And that the fig-tree corresponds to natural good, 
may be seen from the fact that often when natural 
goodness and truth are described in the Word by 



TREES. 125 

works^ use is made of the fig-tree, or of figs, or fig- 
leaves ; as in Jeremiah, when the people did not bring 
forth the fruits of external faith and obedience ; the 
prophet says, " There shall be no ... . figs on the 
fig-tree, and the leaf shall fade/' But when the 
people bring forth the fruits of kindness, in good 
works, it is written in Joel, " The fig-tree yields its 
strength.'' A judgment was executed upon the fig- 
tree, because it did not bear fruit. This was to teach 
man that he must do the works — the external things. 
And the Lord says to that fig-tree, ^^ No man eat fruit 
of thee hereafter for ever." '^And presently the fig- 
tree withered away." It was because the fig-tree de- 
notes works of kindness and mercy that it was selected 
by the Lord to teach this lesson. And though a judg- 
ment was passed upon the barren fig-tree, yet it was 
spiritually passed upon the unfruitful man. 

The principles represented in this parable, by the fig, 
the vine and the olive, which are the natural, the spirit- 
ual and the celestial, are often mentioned together in 
the Holy Word ; the same as corn, wine and oil, 
which represent the same things. They point to the 
three great essential principles in God — power, wisdom 
and love. In man, they are use, truth and goodness ; 
or works, faith and charity, symbolized in the parable 
by the fig, the vine and the olive. And they are 
brought up in the parable to teach us that unless we 
are governed by some one of these principles, we shall 
be lost — destroyed by the fire of the bramble, or of self- 
love. 

In the celestial heavens, the angels are governed by 



126 TREES. 

the olive-tree, or by celestial good, which is the love of 
good. 

In the spiritual heavens, they are governed by the 
vine, or by spiritual good, which is the love of truth. 

In the natural heavens, they are governed by the fig- 
tree, or by natural good, which is the love of use, or 
of good works. 

Therefore, to be governed by either of these loves, 
will give us heaven — the love of good, the love of truth, 
or the love of use. But if not willing to be governed 
by either, the vile bramble must take us. 

That trees denote persons as well as principles, may 
be known by any one who will carefully and candidly 
examine the thirty-first chapter of Ezekiel. For there, 
Pharaoh is called the Assyrian, and also a cedar of 
Lebanon. And this cedar had grown so great, shot up 
its top so high, and sj)read out its branches so wide, 
that " all the fowls of heaven made their nests in his 
boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of 
the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow 
dwelt all great nations.^^ He became so great, that 
'^ all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, 
envied him."" '' The fir-trees were not like his boughs, 
and the chestnut-trees were not like his branches ;'' 
and even '' the cedars in the garden of Grod could not 
hide him.'' But, from the height of this glory he fell. 
And at his fall, ^^all the trees of the field fainted.'' 
And it is declared by the Lord that all the trees of 
Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, shall be com- 
forted in the nether parts of the earth : And that they 
also went down into hell with him. And when they 



TREES. 127 

went down the Lord says, '^ I covered the deep for hun, 
and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters 
were stayed/' 

Now, although it is at once obvious, by this chap- 
ter, that trees signify persons or principles in them, 
and although the last sentence in the chapter declares 
that this is Pharaoh and all his multitude ; yet, to 
simply know this and no more, is of but little use. The 
essential teachings cannot be known without the sci- 
ence of correspondences. For, how is a man to know, 
from mere fanciful tropes and figures of speech, what 
these things mean ? He cannot thus know them. But 
the Most High God speaks not in so weak and uncer- 
tain a language as metaphor. His speech is eternal 
and unchangeable, definite and sure, carrying in its 
bosom spirit and life. It is yea and amen ; positive 
and certain : and so plain that he who runs may read. 
But if we would truly read, we must run : and the race 
must be heavenward. 

We^have not space to give the spiritual signification 
of this chapter, but will glance at some of its leading 
features. Pharaoh king of Egypt represents the natu- 
ral man in the love of science : and progressing in sci- 
entific wisdom and knowledge, and thereby gaining 
great power and influence, becoming envied and ad- 
mired for his vast acquirements and superior excellence, 
until he becomes great in his ov/n estimation, inflated 
with self-love, and thus he falls into ruinous evils. 
The various conditions of the trees and birds and beasts, 
and the waters, show the operations of the various prin- 
ciples of his mind to which these natural things cor- 



128 TREES. 

respond as lie rises to the zenith of his glory and falls 
into darkness and death. And in the sure language of 
God, we may find it exceedingly interesting and in- 
structive, as applicable to our natural man by the rules 
of analogy. And these correspondences may be abun- 
dantly sustained from the Word ; for they are among 
the most common symbols, and always mean precisely 
the same things when used in the same relations. 

And what a beautiful history this parable gives of 
the scientific development of the human mind : and 
then of its becoming proud of its own wisdom, forget- 
ful of its God as the fountain of knowledge, and thus 
wise in its own eyes, until it falls into spiritual death ! 
And what a warning to us, lest we become inflated 
with self-importance in consequence of the wisdom we 
see in this heavenly light ; and thus imagine ourselves 
good and wise above our neighbors, until we lose the 
pure, interior light in the false glare of self-derived in- 
telligence ! 

But to our text. ^^ The thistle that was in Lebanon 
sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying. Give 
thy daughter to my son to wife."' From what has 
been said, all must be ready to look into the mind for 
the thistle and the cedar. And while the cedar denotes 
the spiritual man, or high interior truths, the thistle 
denotes a low, external, vicious principle. As natural 
thistles choke the good seeds of earth and prevent their 
growth, so they correspond to those falsities of the 
mind which j)revent the divine seed of the Word from 
taking root in the heart. 

Hosea, prophesying of the fallen state of the church 



TREES. 129 

says, ^^ The thorn and the thistle shall come up on 
their altars/' Now, the true altar where the real in- 
cense is offered to God is the grateful and contrite 
heart. Wicked hearts are therefore the altars to which 
the prophet here alludes. For natural thistles grow 
not upon the altars of churches. 

'' The thistle that was in Lebanon.'' Lebanon is a 
mountain in Palestine. In the Word, a mountain de- 
notes a high state of the mind, either for good or for 
evil. The thistle here denotes a false and vile princi- 
ple, and the cedar a true and virtuous one. And both 
of these principles may be in the same mind, or may 
not. The will is the female element of the mind, and 
the understanding is the male element. The daughter 
of the cedar, therefore, is a young and noble principle 
of the will ; and the son of the thistle is a young and 
vicious principle of the understanding. Thus, as re- 
gards the same mind ; the thistle or a falsity in the 
male department of the mind is asking for a union with 
the cedar or with a virtue, in the female department. 
Or in other words ; some falsity in the understanding 
is seeking a marriage with some good in the will. Now, 
vicious principles of the mind are always striving to 
bring down to their level the virtuous principles ; to 
unite the cedar with the thistle. 

But we have not only the thistle and the cedar in the 
same mind ; but we have the thistles and cedars of 
society. Where the thistle principle in a man rules, 
he may be called a thistle ; where the cedar prin- 
ciple rules, he may be called a cedar. And let the 
young men, the noble young cedars of the community 

6* 



130 TREES. 

beware^ lest they be led astray by the thistles that stroll 
in our streets^ and which lure to the dens of intemper- 
ance and vice. For if tliey once fall into the embrace 
of the thistle^ they will be in danger of coming to the 
same end as the thistle in the text ; which is deplora- 
ble enough. For the words following our text declare, 
that ^'' there passed by a wild beast that was in Leba- 
non, and trode down the thistle ;'" thus showing that 
such principles are low as the dust, and are under the 
very feet of the wild and unsubdued passions of the 
perverted will ; trodden under the feet of wild beasts. 

But in these latter days the Lord is mercifully pro- 
viding us with a safeguard against all these evils by 
opening to us the deeper truths of His Word whereby 
we may scan ourselves to the bottom, understand the 
causes and consequences of transgression, and see the 
way of escape from every vice. Then let us receive 
the Holy Word to our bosoms, seek its divine light, 
yield to its divine power, and thus ascend Mount Leba- 
non to its summit, where we can stand among its heav- 
enly cedars and hold familiar converse with the lovely 
trees of Eden in the paradise of God. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SYMBOLIC MEANING OF HEAVENS AND EARTH^ SUN, 
MOON AND STARS. 

" The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her 
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the 
heavens shall be shaken." (Matt. xxiv. 29.) 

Here are divine ideas contained in human language 
— the mere words of men. But there is a divine speech 
within^ the idiom of which is analogical. This analo- 
gy enables us to perceive something of the divine idea 
in and through the human speech. This analogy ex- 
ists in and throughout nature. There we are to look 
for it^ there we are to study it as the law of life. It is 
that law which connects the creation with the Creator. 
And by it we are to look through the visible universe 
into the mind of the Creator, and also into the minds 
of men, the images of God. God's language therefore 
is not an empty sign of ideas, but a living sign, ex- 
pressive of the laws of life. It is neither Hebrew nor 
Greek, nor any other human language. But as all hu- 
man dialects are taken from nature, and as God fills 
nature, so he speaks in any one of the human lan- 
guages, when the words are so selected and arranged 



132 HEAVENS AKD EARTH, 

as to contain divine ideas by correspondences. God^s 
language therefore is substantial life ; the very life 
which exists throughout nature and speaks through it : 
for He says, "^^ The words which I speak unto you, they 
are spirit and they are life/' Thus the things of na- 
ture are all letters and syllables, words and sentences, 
spoken by ten thousand tongues, all in action from the 
living universal speech of God. Our heavenly Father 
therefore, in order to speak to His children and teach 
them the nature of Himself and the laws of life, by 
written words, had to come down to man's own lan- 
guage, and thus clothe His divine speech in the com- 
mon, finite words of the people. This was the only 
way He could reach our capacities. But, by His di- 
vine influence. He enabled the writers of His Word, to 
so select the words and frame the sentences as to con- 
tain, by correspondences, a spiritual or divine sense, 
which can be seen only by the divine law of analogy. 

Thus God speaks to us, in man's own language, in 
the literal sense ; and, at the same time, in the divine 
speech in the spiritual sense. But in reading the 
Word, some see only man's language. Yet, as it is 
divinely arranged and infilled with life by correspond- 
ences, even the literal sense contains a power which is 
felt in no other human composition. And if men hum- 
bly receive it and obey its literal commands, it will 
surely take them to heaven ; because, from its internal 
powers it will make them heavenly. Why then, it may 
be asked, is any further sense necessary ? We answer, 
because the true literal sense has, in many of its doc- 
trines, been falsified by the traditions of men ; and the 



SUx\^ MOON AND STARS. 133 

scientific world is passing it by as not a divine work. 
The time, therefore, has arrived for the Lord to appear 
as the spirit and life of that Book, that He may there- 
in reach, anew, the souls of men, through their rational 
faculties ; expressing at the same time, the truth of 
the letter and the power and glory of the Spirit. While, 
therefore, some persons see in the Bible only the lan- 
guage of men, others see therein, the language of God. 

But the divine speech, is the great language — the 
universal speech — the one in which the heavens and the 
earth are conversing together — the one which we shall 
all speak in the spiritual world. And because of the 
high importance of the spiritual sense of the Holy 
Word, the literal sense in many places, is given only 
for the sake of the spiritual. And in these instances 
the letter is often totally dark and incomprehensible, 
until the spiritual sense is seen. Such is the case with 
our text. The letter alone is total darkness. Science 
looks it in the face and exclaims. What ! The star-s 
fall from heaven to this earth ! And what are the stars 
but vast suns to other systems ? And, which way is 
down from those great centres ? And what, in com- 
parison, is this little planet upon which we live, but a 
mere atom of dust ? How is if to draw the universe 
to its comparative nothingness ? And where would it 
and its inhabitants be, if it were in the centre of the 
whole immense mass of all matter, in one solid body ? 
And how could the Lord then come to us in the clouds 
of heaven ? For, following our text, and after the 
stars have fallen the narrative says, ^' And then shall 
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see 



134 HEAVENS AND EARTH, 

the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with 
power and great glory/' Let us then seek the spiritual 
import of our text^ and, thereby a true knowledge of 
the subject before us. 

Our full theme is, The symbolic meaning of the 
heavens and the earth, the sun, moon and stars, as un- 
derstood in the divine language. And as the human 
mind is a microcosm, or world in miniature, and the 
universe of things corresponds to it, so the phrase, 
the heavens and the earth, means the human mind. — 
The heavens, the internal mind or the spiritual man ; 
and the earth, the external mind, or natural man. In 
the internal plane of the mind, we hold communion 
with our God, and with heavenly things. In the ex- 
ternal plane, we have intercourse with men, and with 
earthly things. We feel conscious of an elevation of 
mind above natural things, when we enter into our 
closet, in devotional meditations. And there, through 
the Word, we receive light from the Sun of righteous- 
ness ; or the divine truth comes to illumine, warm and 
fructify our earth or natural mind, that it may bring 
forth the fruits of good works ; the same correspond- 
entially as the natural earth receives light and warmth 
from the sun of the natural heavens, that it may yield 
its fruits. 

Now, the Holy Word commences by saying, ^- In the 
beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And 
the earth was without form, and void.'' And the order 
which follows, in the chapter, shows, by analogy, the 
process of the creation of this mental heaven and earth, 
or of man, until we see him in the full human form, in 



SUN, MOON AND STARS. 135 

the image and likeness of his God. Now this image 
and likeness is what makes man to be the church ; for 
the image is the divine truth, and the likeness is the 
divine good, in man ; and these constitute the king- 
dom of God in the human mind. And because by an- 
alogy the divine phrase, '' The heavens and the earth/' 
means the human mind and not the natural universe, 
therefore, an account of the creation of the heaven and 
the earth, or of the human mind, is not confined to 
the first chapter of Genesis. 

The Lord says in Isaiah, ^' Behold, I create new 
heavens and a new earth : and the former shall not be 
remembered, nor come into mind."' Now what is meant 
by the former heavens and earth, which are not to be 
remembered, unless it be the very heavens and earth 
which the same Bible mentions as having been created 
in the beginning ? It is positively certain that the 
Lord means, by the new heavens and new earth, here 
mentioned, a new state of the human mind ; or man 
again restored to the image and likeness of God ; hav- 
ing his external mind or earth in God's image, and his 
internal mind or heavens in God's likeness ; for the 
prophecy continues, '' Behold, I create Jerusalem a re- 
joicing, and her people a joy." And Jerusalem, all 
may see, means the church or the human mind in or- 
der. Now, this prophecy in Isaiah, relates to the com- 
ing of the Lord in the flesh, for the establishment of 
the Christian church, or of a new state of the human 
mind. And this state of the mind is the new heavens 
and the new earth to which the prophecy refers. For 
the former heavens and earth, or good and true state 



136 HEAVENS AND EARTH, 

of mind, had passed away in the progressive fall of 
man, wherein the image and likeness of God were lost ; 
and the new heavens and earth were to take their 
place. 

In the prophecy through Jeremiah our Lord says, in 
reference to this dark state of the human mind or of 
the church, ^^ My people is foolish, they have not known 
me ; they are sottish children, and they have none un- 
derstanding : they are wise to do evil, but to do good 
they have no knowledge. . I beheld the earth, and, lo, 
it was without form and void ; and the heavens, and 
they had no light. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, 
and all the birds of the heavens were fled.'' (iv. 22, 
23, 25.) Here, we have the state of a depraved mind, 
or of a consummated church. For it is to the condi- 
tion of the Jewish church or people, at the time the 
Lord was to come in the flesh, that this prophecy re- 
lates. And how much it is like the description of the 
state of the first people on earth, while in spiritual ig- 
norance, before the kingdom of heaven was established 
in them. For that narrative, in Genesis, says, ^^In 
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 
And the earth was without form, and void ; and dark- 
ness was upon the face of the deep.'' And the proph- 
ecy in Jeremiah says, ^^ I beheld the earth, and, lo, it 
was without form and void ; the heavens, and they 
had no light. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man.'' 
Can we, then, come to any other conclusion than that 
it was the state of the human mind that was meant in 
both instances ? In the first instance the minds of the 
first people were undeveloped, and therefore in mental 



SUN^ MOON AND STARS. 137 

darkness ; their mental earth was void of light and 
knowledge^ and therefore, formless as to true beauty ; 
but the Lord went on afterward and progressively cre- 
ated them in His own image. 

In the prophecy in Jeremiah, the Jewish mind at 
the coming of the Lord, was without form and void, 
because it was not symmetrical, being deformed by sin, 
and void of goodness and truth. Its heavens or internal 
mind, as the prophecy declares, had no light, for they 
had ceased to be spiritual. And the reason it is said, 
/ heheldj andj lo, there loas no man^ is, it requires the 
image and likeness of God to make a real man ; and 
these they had lost. And so, the reason it is said that 
all J:he birds of heaven had fled is, all heavenly thoughts 
were gone. The Jews had become a low, sensual peo- 
ple. The natural earth was not void nor formless. It 
rolled, as usual, ^^ along its airy way'' and produced its 
fruits ; while the heavenly bodies still sent forth their 
cheering light, and the merry birds warbled as ever 
their melodious notes. But the mental earth of the 
people was without form and void, their heavens had 
no light and the heavenly birds were fled, and there 
was no real man left — nothing truly manly. 

Now, what would have to be done, in order to restore 
to man the image and likeness of God ? What, but to 
re-animate the mental earth with new affections, set 
the lights of truth again in the heavens, to give light 
upon the earth ; call back the fled birds, or heavenly 
thoughts, and thus give to the mind its true form and 
comeliness ? And all this the Lord did in the estab- 
lishment of the Christian church. He created man 



138 HEAVENS AND EARTH, 

again in His own image and likeness. — Or He created 
a new heavens and a new earthy or His diurch in man, 
' and illuminated it. And He says to it^ prophetically, 
^^ Arise^ shine ; for thy light is come, and the glory of 
the Lord is risen upon thee ; and the Gentiles shall 
come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy 
rising.'' Isa. Ix. 1, 3. . 

Thus the Lord is the light of the mind or of the 
church. The sun denotes the Lord as to love and wis- 
dom ; the moon denotes truth or faith ; and the stars, 
truths or knowledges. They are never mentioned in 
the Word without having this signification. 

The sun is the most striking symbol of the Lord in 
all nature. By its heat and light it performs the same 
use to the natural earth which the Lord, by His love 
and wisdom, does to the mental earth or human mind. 
And the analogy is perfect, and is everywhere main- 
tained throughout the Holy Word. And as the sun 
represents the Lord in the Word, so the earth and sky 
represent the human mind. And as the natural earth 
without the sun, with its heat and light, is cold and 
dark, so a human mind without the Lord, with His 
love and wisdom, is cold and dark. And as clouds in 
the atmosphere darken the earth, by shutting out the 
light of the sun, so clouds of ignorance and error, in 
the understanding, darken the mind and shut out the 
light and truth coming from the Lord, the Sun of 
Eighteousness. And as, after a season of clouds and 
storms and darkness, the light of the sun makes its ap- 
pearance through the clouds of the natural heavens, 
illuminating and rejoicing the earth ; so the Lord, as 



SUN^ MOON AND STARS. 139 

the Light of the Sun of Eighteousness^ after an age of 
error and warfare and darkness with the children of 
men, comes in the clouds of the human mind or mental 
heavens, to enlighten and rejoice the souls of men and 
establish His kingdom again among them. 

And as the sun is used in the Word, as a symbol of 
the Lord as to the Divine Love and Wisdom, so the 
moon is used as a symbol of man's faith. For as the 
moon is a dark, opaque body, receiving all its light from 
the sun, so the human mind is a dark body receiving 
all its light of truth or its true faith, from the Lord, 
the Sun of Eighteousness. We have no real faith but 
as the Lord gives it to us by the Light of His Truth : 
and so the moon has no light but as the sun gives it 
from the glory of its beams. And as the human mind 
shines by the truths of faith from the Lord, so the 
moon shines by light borrowed from the sun. The 
moon is therefore used in the Woid as a true symbol 
of faith. 

And the stars are most beautiful symbols of truths 
or knowledges in the mind. Being bright objects in 
the natural firmament, they denote true principles in 
the understanding or mental firmament. What a 
beautiful mental constellation are the ten command- 
ments when bright and clear in the firmament of the 
mind ! Like beacon lights to the natural mariner, they 
stand in our mental heavens as fixed stars, upon which 
we may ever depend to mark our moral and religious 
latitude and longitude in the ocean of life, as we strive, 
in dependence upon the Lord, to guide our frail bark 
of humanity on its onward-bound voyage to the haven 



140 HEAVENS AND EAETH, 

of peace — our eternal home. Stars are therefore always 
used in the Word as symbols of truths or of knowledges 
in the human mind : and with this signification the 
Word is made plain where stars are used. 

Stars are therefore said to fall from heaven or to 
withdraw their shining^ whenever man loses his knowl- 
edges of the truths of the Word. Therefore^ in the 
prophecy in Joel of the end of the churchy the Lord 
says^ ^^ The earth shall quake ; the heavens shall trem- 
ble : the sun and the raoon shall be dark^ and the stars 
shall withdraw their shining : the sun shall be turned 
into darkness, and the moon into blood."' (ii. 10, 31.) 
This is a prophetic description of the dark and troubled 
state of the human mind when its sun of Eighteous- 
ness, its moon of faith, and its stars of spiritual knowl- 
edge, cease to shine. 

And how graphic is this description when the anal- 
ogy is seen ! No human language can compare with 
it, either for fulness, definiteness, or force. What a 
pitiable state of man, or of the mental earth, is shown 
by the following language through Isaiah ! ^^ The 
earth mourneth and fadeth away. The earth is de- 
filed. The foundations of the earth do shake. The 
earth is utterly broken down. The earth is clean dis- 
solved. The earth is moved exceedingly. The earth 
shall reel to and fro like a drunkard.'' ' (xxiv. 4, 5, 18, 
19, 20.) If the earth here means the church, or a dark 
and troubled state of mind, all is rational. But if it 
does not mean th§ mind, what does it mean ? 

If the Lord created a new heavens and a new earth 
at His first coming, as the Holy Word declares, and 



SUN^ MOON AND STARS. 141 

that heavens and earth do not mean the church, or a 
good state of the human mind, what do they mean ? 
As these things did not happen to the sun, moon and 
stars, at the Lord's coming, when the prophecy was 
fulfilled, they must signify something else. And we 
have positive testimony in the Scriptures, in plain and 
unmistakable language, that they do mean something 
else, and also, what they mean. 

On the day of pentecost, when the people were all 
amazed, and marvelled, saying one to another, ^^ Are 
not all these who speak Galileans ? and how hear we 
every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born ? 
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers 
in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in 
Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, 
and in the parts of Lybia about Gyrene, and strangers of 
Eome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we 
do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works 
of God. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, 
lifted up his voice, and said unto them. Ye men of Ju- 
dea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known 
unto you, and hearken to my words : This is that 
which was spoken by the prophet Joel ; And it shall 
come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour 
out of my spirit upon all flesh : and your soiis and your 
daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see 
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams : and on 
my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out, in 
those days, of my spirit, and they shall prophesy : and 
I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the 
earth beneath ; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke : 



142 HEAVENS AND EARTH, 

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon 
into blood, before that great and notable day of the 
Lord come : and it shall come to pass, that whoever 
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved/' 
(Acts ii. 7-21.) Here Peter quotes the very words 
of Joel, who declares that, before the things mentioned 
as occun'ing on the day of pentecost should take place, 
the sun should be turned into darkness and the moon 
into blood : thus showing clearly that before the Chris- 
tian church should be established, there would be no 
true light of faith in the human mind on earth. For by 
the sun's being turned into darkness, is meant the loss 
of all true knowledge and love of the Lord, the Sun of 
Eighteousness. And by the moon's being turned into 
blood is meant, violence done to faith. 

There can be no question of the meaning of these 
prophecies left in the mind of any one who will can- 
didly examine them in that light of analogy in which 
they are written. 

The same symbolic language is used, in the prophetic 
portions of the New Testament, to express another 
dark, divided and distracted state of the religious world 
on the earth, and of the establishment of the New Je- 
rusalem. And it is used in too plain a manner to be 
mistaken by any unprejudiced and humble seeker after 
truth, who win examine the science of correspond- 
ences : For the prophet John says, in the Apocalypse, 
'^ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the 
first heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and 
I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming 
down from Grod out of heaven, prepared as a bride 



14S 



adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice 
out of heaven^ saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is 
with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall 
be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, 
their God." (Kev. xxi. 1, 2, 3.) 

Now, in taking a candid and rational view of the 
whole Word on this subject, we ask the serious mind 
if the new heavens and the new earth mentioned in this 
prophecy of St. John can, consistently with the rest of 
the divine Word, be possibly construed to mean any- 
thing else than a new church, or a new state of religious 
life ? As it is beyond dispute certain that the Lord 
came the first time to supercede the Jewish church by 
a higher order of faith and life, and that He established 
it by a new heavens and a new earth in the minds of 
His disciples : why then, we ask, is it not a still high- 
er order of faith and life that the Lord comes to estab- 
lish by the creation of another new heavens and new 
earth in advance of those created at His first coming, 
and wherein all shall see eye to eye ? Can any one 
doubt from the tenor of the whole quotation from St. 
John, that the new heavens and new earth, which he 
saw, mean a new church ? The q[uestion then is plainly 
settled, from the Holy Word, that the phrase ^^ the 
heavens and the earth " means the church, or the hu- 
man mind in order. 

Now, the whole 2 4th chapter of Matthew is a proph- 
ecy of the divisions, disorders and troubles which would 
arise in the Christian world, and of the coming of the 
Lord for the establishment of the New Jerusalem. 
And in that portion from which our text is taken the 



144 HEAVENS AND EARTH, 

Lord says, ^' Immediately after the tribulation of those 
days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall 
not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, 
and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken : and 
then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heav- 
en : and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn ; 
and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds 
of heaven with power and great glory/' All these 
wonderful things of the sun, moon and stars were to 
take place before the coming of the Lord in the clouds 
of heaven and the descent of the New Jerusalem. 

Now, as the things prophesied of the sun, moon and 
stars did not take place in outward nature at the Lord's 
first coming, as prophesied in Isaiah, Jeremiah and 
Joel, we therefore are not to look for anything of the 
kind at his second coming ; for it is declared, in both 
instances, that the same things would take place. 

How can the natural stars — vast suns to other sys- 
tems — fall to this little earth ? But if the stars mean 
knowledges of truth, they might fall from the mental 
heavens. The understanding might become so dark- 
ened by sin as not to see nor regard the truths of the 
Word at all. I know it is believed by many pious 
Christians, that this prophecy, in Matthew, is to be 
literally fulfilled in that the Lord will personally come, 
in the natural clouds which float in our atmosphere. 
But where would the clouds be after the stars had fall- 
en ? For He is not to appear until after the stars 
have fallen, and the sun has been darkened. And how 
is the Son of man to be seen in those clouds without 
any light ? Besides, if the stars should fall to the 



SUN, MOON AND STARS. 145 

earth, we should have all the material bodies of the 
vast universe collected in one mass and this little earth 
in the very centre. 

But the doctrine of the falling of the stars is now 
generally given up, among civilized people. It was 
once supposed to be true : but since the science of as- 
tronomy has revealed some of the laws which govern 
the heavenly bodies, and something of their distances 
and magnitudes, thinking people no longer believe that 
the stars will fall. But in giving up the falling of the 
stars, many give up the Bible also, disbelieving it to be 
divine wisdom ; for they think it plainly teaches that 
the stars do fall. And many good people of the vari- 
ous Christian denominations, who still adhere to the 
divinity of the Word, and acknowledge the falling of 
the stars to be figurative language, continue to believe 
that the Lord will make His second coming in a per- 
sonal form, in the visible clouds. But, upon what 
grounds of Scripture interpretation can any one come 
to the conclusion that that entire quotation from 
Matthew, all in one sentence, should be figurative lan- 
guage, except the coming of the Lord in the cloads, 
and that that part should be literal, as it reads ? 

But all will be plain when men see that the clouds 
are the dark literal sense of the Word, when not un- 
derstood ; and that the Lord, who is the Word itself 
in its spirit and life, will make His coming, as the spir- 
itual light of the Word, in those clouds, by means of 
the science of correspondences. Who does not see 
that, without that science, the letter of our text is a 
dark cloud in the mind ? But by the use of that sci- 

7 



146 HEAVENS AND EARTH, 

ence the Lord^ as heavenly llght^ comes in this cloud 
with power and great glory. 

The passage in Mark, which treats of the second 
coming of the Lord, and of the state of the Christian 
world, reads thus, ^^ But in those days, after the trib- 
ulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall 
not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall/' 
By '' the tribulation of those days '' is meant, what we 
now see in the Christian world, as divisions and subdi- 
visions, and contentions of sects and parties and creeds^ 
called, in the prophetic teachings of the 24th chapter 
of Matthew, ^^wars and rumors of wars, and famines, 
and pestilences, and earthquakes ;'' and cryings, ^^Lo, 
here is Christ, or there/' But in Isaiah (Ix. 18, 20), 
where the coming of the New Jerusalem is predicted, 
our Lord says, '^ Yiolence shall no more be heard in 
thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders ; 
but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates 
Praise. Thy sun shall no more go down ; neither shall 
thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine 
everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall 
be ended/' Thus showing, that the New Jerusalem is 
to be the crowning and final church, and is to have no 
end : that its sun and moon will always shine : for, 
says the Word, ^^ The glory of God did lighten it, and 
the Lamb is the light thereof." The Sun of Eight- 
eousness is its Sun. 

In one of the prophecies of the New Jerusalem 
through St. John, it says, ^^ There appeared a great 
wonder in heaven ; a woman clothed with the Sun, and 
the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown 



SUN^ MOON AND STARS. 147 

of twelve stars/^ This woman denotes the crowning 
church. She is to come as a bride adorned for her hus- 
band. And how sumptuous may become her embellish- 
ments when she has^ by analogy^ such free access to 
the divine rubies^ and pearls^ and gems of the Holy 
Word^ of every heavenly variety and beauty ! Now, 
with the signification which analogy gives to the sun, 
moon and stars, this prophecy is most rational and 
beautiful. While, without that signification, it teaches 
us nothing. How cheering the thought that the 
church is yet to be clothed with light as with a gar- 
ment — a light shining from heavenly love — so that her 
deportment will be pure mercy and intelligence : that 
her understanding is to be filled with all spiritual 
knowledges, symbolized by a crown of twelve stars : 
that she will ever stand firm upon the eternal rock of 
true faith, denoted by the moon under her feet, as a 
sure lantern to her paths ! 

There is another striking prophecy in the Apocalypse, 
concerning the disturbed and beclouded condition of 
the Christian world preceding the descent of the New 
Jerusalem. It reads thus : — ^^ The sun became black 
as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood ; 
and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a 
fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken 
of a mighty wind : and the heaven departed as a scroll 
when it is rolled together."' (Kev. vi. 12-14.) Here 
again, the literal sense is utterly incomprehensible. We 
cannot conceive of stars falling from heaven as blighted 
figs, blown off by the wind. But we can conceive of 
truths, by a wicked life, becoming apparently blighted. 



148 HEAVENS AND EARTH, ETC. 

withered away, and lost to the human mind. Nor can 
we conceive of the moon's becoming blood. But we 
can conceive of violence done to a true faith, until it 
is crimsoned with sins of every dye. 

Now, we have given a brief explanation of the mean- 
ing of the heavens and the earth ; the sun, moon and 
stars, from the very commencement of the Word to its 
close. — In Genesis, in the prophets, in the gospels, the 
Acts of the Apostles, as taken from the prophets, and 
in Kevelation. The literal sense alone is against the 
reason which God has given to man, and consequently 
cannot teach him. We may safely say this, because it 
has not been able to teach him. It has baffled the 
skill of the most learned and pious commentators. 
They have all differed in their opinions ; and have 
honestly declared themselves ignorant of the meaning 
intended to be conveyed. 

But by the divine science of correspondences, in 
which the Holy Word is written, we have a rational 
and beautiful view of the truths therein taught. And 
what is most important is, they show us our God and 
teach us the way of life and salvation ; the very things 
which we most need to know, and which the good God 
most desires to teach us. ^^0 that men would praise 
the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful 
works to the children of men ; for He satisfieth the 
longing soul, and fiUeth the hungry soul with good- 
ness.'' Ps. cvii. 8, 9, 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS IN ITS SPIRITUAL 
IMPORT THE CREATION OF MAN. 

" And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our like- 
ness." (Gen. i. 26.) 

In this lecture we propose to treat upon the first 
chapter of Genesis, in its spiritual import — the crea- 
tion of man. This chapter has generally been looked 
upon as a history of the creation of the material uni- 
verse. For, after the loss of the science of corre- 
spondences, and while men remained ignorant of the 
lower sciences, and particularly of Astronomy, Geology, 
and Chemistry, they were in much mental darkness as 
to the physical laws as well as the spiritual. And in 
this ignorance, the literal sense of the account of the 
creation, was adapted to their gross states and wants. 
It was good for them to read it, to reverence it, and to 
believe it. For thereby they acknowledged the Lord, 
in His infinity, as the creator and sustainer of the 
universe. And they could therein regard Him as their, 
heavenly Father. This instruction was just what they 
needed. It was all their states could bear. 

But men were not always to remain in this igno- 



150 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

ranee. They were made for higlier light and life than 
nature gives. But before they could advance to spir- 
itual knowledge^ they must lay its foundation in 
nature. It- was for this reason that their existence 
commenced in this material mode of life. ^^ First that 
which is natural^ and afterward that which is spir- 
itual.^^ 

And as men investigated nature and reasoned upon 
her laws^ the natural sciences were gradually seen, and 
their principles and rules noted, and laid down. And 
in this progress, a natural philosophy was gradually 
evolved, from the great universal laws of things. And 
upon the truth of this j)hilosophy, they found that they 
could implicitly depend, even to mathematical cer- 
tainty. Therefore, in due time, they raised the mighty 
telescope, and looked in among the rolling worlds ; and 
learned their comparative magnitudes, distances and 
revolutions ; an event far more astounding in that day, 
than the steam engine and electric telegraph are in this. 
For the delusion was then broken. The earth ceased 
to be the great centre, the main body of the universe ; 
and the sun, moon and stars, mere torches and tapers 
passing round it to light it. Thus men saw the sizes 
of our sun and earth, and perceived that the earth was 
not the primary, but a secondary body, and entirely 
dependent upon the sun for heat, light, germination 
and growth ; and was daily turning to that sun for 
blessings, and revolving around him for seasons. And 
they saw in these things fixed and eternal laws. 

With this sure, scientific light in the mind, men now 
look at the narrative of the creation, and they marvel 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 151 

at the idea^ that this little earth, but a mere atom of 
dust in the balance against the rest, and even cold and 
opaque in its nature, should have been the first thing 
created in the whole universe : and that, here it was 
for a long time, solitary and alone, in boundless space, 
without sun, moon, or stars, to cheer the gloom ; and 
yet, wonderful to tell, bearing trees and vegetables, con- 
trary to all known laws. And well may man wonder 
that the enormous sun, the great centre and physical 
source of a huge system of worlds, should have been 
the last heavenly body made ; or at least, not made 
until after one of his planets had been three immeasur- 
able days in existence ; and bearing trees ; days which 
are now considered, by Biblical scholars, to mean in- 
definite periods of time ; probably not less than a thou- 
sand years each ; thus leaving the earth alone, in the 
gloom of its solitude, for thousands of years. 

The geologist, also, begins to doubt and demur, as 
he reads this history of the creation. For, in the pro- 
cess of the earth's formations, he beholds the animal 
kingdom treading upon the very heels of the vegetable, 
and mingling with it, at every step of its progressive 
creation. And he asks how it is possible, that all the 
animals and fishes, and reptiles and insects, were created 
on the fifth and sixth days, and all the vegetables and 
trees on the third, when geology tells so very different 
a story ? For she says the first vegetables were very 
small mosses upon the rocks, produced after the atmos- 
phere and other elements had prepared the surface of 
the granite with mould enough to give growth to minute 
vegetables. And in these little vegetables, before the 



152 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS, 

larger growths were produced^ are found, minute ani- 
mal organizations. And, as we -turn over the leaves of 
the stone book, we see a regular progression of larger 
vegetables and larger animals, from the smallest up to 
the production of large animals and trees. This must 
have taken a long time, so that many animals, besides 
the creeping things, must have been formed before the 
earth produced large trees. 

Thus the astronomer and geologist are giving up the 
divinity of the Word. They say. Which shall we be- 
lieve, God's word or His works ? We cannot believe 
them both, and retain our reason. To this question, 
the natural philosopher — the strong-minded man, an- 
swers, saying, Take His works : believe them ; they 
cannot lie. While the zealous theologian, blindly de- 
voted to the letter of the Word, says. Take the Bible, 
and let science go : they cannot be reconciled. But a 
third voice speaks, saying. Take them both : they are 
Ood's own books, and they tell the same truths. Kead 
them together, in the light of analogy : each is a key 
to the other, and verifies its divinity : Eead, I beseech 
you, and every doubt will flee away. The strong- 
minded philosopher hears this third voice and turns to 
look. And as the light of correspondences beams into 
his mind, he beholds the truth of the Holy Word shin- 
ing through the symbolic language ; and he yields the 
palm, saying. Both are true. The astronomer and geol- 
ogist too, turn to look : and as they see the light of 
correspondences shining through nature's page in the 
speech of the written Word, they exclaim. Give God 
the glory : both books are true. And even the zealous 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 153 

theologian, at last, with caution, turns to look. He 
reads, and ponders upon correspondences ; looks, and 
hesitates, and looks again, and turns the page back- 
ward and forth ; but he cannot leave it till he finally 
cries out, Amen : thy will God be done : both books 
are true : Nature and Eevelation have met together : 
Science and Theology have kissed each other. 

Let us then look at the sacred history, for that di- 
vine light, that we too may see its harmony and beauty 
and be blessed by its spirit. And in doing this, let us 
bear in mind, that it is the soul of man, that God 
everywhere speaks about, both in His Word and in His 
works : that the soul — the mind — is the man ; the 
body is its mere clothing : that this history of the cre- 
ation has nothing to do with the formation of man^s 
natural body, nor the creation of the natural universe. 
God had, previous to this history, brought mankind 
into existence, in numbers we know not how many. 
They were not yet in the image and likeness of God ; 
because they knew nothing of His love and wisdom. 
They were simple, ignorant, harmless children of Na- 
ture ; with no knowledge of soul, mind, God or heaven : 
distinguished from the brutes only by a capacity to be- 
come spiritual. And in this ignorance they would have 
remained if their heavenly Father had not taught them 
spiritual things. The Bible, therefore, commences with 
an account of the process of the elevation of these hu- 
man souls from natural to spiritual, and of thus making 
them real men, by giving them the image and likeness 
of God — the Infinite Man. And the narrative is per- 
fectly applicable now to every person who knows not 

7«- 



154 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

spiritual things, but applies to the Holy Word for light 
and becomes regenerated. 

The first chapter of Genesis is a complete illustration 
of the spiritual creation or regeneration of man. It 
describes, fully and clearly, the order and progress of 
the regenerate life ; or of the creation of the kingdom 
of heaven or the church in man. And because all things 
in the macrocosm or material universe correspond to 
principles in the microcosm or mind of man, they are, 
in the wisdom of Jehovah, brought up, in this chap- 
ter, in such order as to teach most distinctly and pre- 
cisely, how man may.be born again, or raised from nat- 
ural to spiritual, and thus become a new creature in 
Jesus Christ. The six days of labor or creation, sig- 
nify the several distinct states of mind through which 
we progressively pass from natural to spiritual. The 
seventh day denotes the spiritual rest we enjoy, when 
the victory over the evils of our nature is won^— 
when the work is all accomplished — the race triumph- 
antly run, and the warfare ended. It is the Lord that 
is said to rest : and so it is, for it is He that conquers ; 
it is He that ^^ worketh in us to will and to do.'' 

The internal sense of the Word, of which we shall 
speak, contains infinitely more than we shall attempt 
to explain ; it being the speech of the Lord, and con- 
taining an infinity of principles and relations. Yet, in 
a partial and modified sense — a sense in which it is at 
first most receivable by the understanding, it will sig- 
nify those principles of the mind and that spiritual 
creation of man which we shall attribute to it. And as 
we are lecturing expressly for novitiate minds as to 



' FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 155 

the law of analogy^ we shall introduce^ for explanation, 
these correspondences which can be most readily seen 
and acknowledged. 

By the creation of the heaven and the earth, in the 
first verse, is meant the regeneration . of the internal 
and external minds, or the establishment of the church 
in the soul. '^ The kingdom of God is within you,'' 
says the Lord. By the earth is meant the external 
mind or the natural and earthly man ; and by the 
heavens the internal mind, or the spiritual and heav- 
enly man. And as the internals of things are always 
contained within the externals, therefore, when the 
word '' earth'' is used alone, in the Word, it means the 
church or the whole mind, either in order or in dis- 
order, according to the sense in which it is used. 

By the earth being " without form, and void," as 
mentioned in the second verse, is meant, that the mind 
of man, at the first beginnings of its spiritual creation, 
is without spiritual truth or goodness. Truth is the 
form of goodness. To be without form is to have no 
truth : and to be void is to have no goodness of man's 
own. This is the state of every unregenerate person. 
The ''^ face of the deep" is the dark abyss of the 
obscure and confused state of the mind, without 
spiritual goodness and truth. The ^^ face of the 
waters," upon which the Spirit of God moved, are 
certain hidden principles or germs in man, treas- 
ured there by the Lord, called in the Word '^ re- 
mains," upon which the Spirit of God first moves 
to bring a person to some faint knowledge of goodness 
and truth It is the implanted conscience ground 
which a child gets through its good instructions. 



156 FIKST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

'' Let there be light and there was light'' means, that 
man began to see that goodness and truth are from the 
Lord. The light was called ^^ good/' because it was 
good to man to have it. To divide the light from the 
darkness^ was for man to distinguish between the 
things which were from God and those that were from 
man's wisdom. For all truth is from the Lord. God 
called the light ddj, because it was from himself, giv- 
ing man a new state of mind. He called the darkness 
night, because it was man's dark state in the absence 
of light. The evening and the morning are called the 
first day, because the evening means the state of shade 
in the mind, which precedes the reception of some truth ; 
and the morning the state of light which follows. This 
is what is meant throughout the whole chapter by 
^^ evening and morning." 

^' And God said, Let there be a firmament in the 
midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from 
the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided 
the waters which were under the firmament from the 
waters which were above the firmament." How totally 
dark is this passage in the literal sense ! The natural 
firmament is the sky — the whole immense space in 
wtich the stars are placed. Where would the waters 
be which were above or below this firmament ? No 
human mind can imagine what such language means, 
without the spiritual sense. But if the waters mean 
truths, and the firmament the rational plane of the ex- 
ternal mind — the heaven of Ihe natural man — then it is 
easy to see that the waters above the firmament are 
truths in the natural will, which is above the rational ; 
waters below the firmament are truths in the natural 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 157 

understanding below the rational. And for the Lord 
to divide the waters which were above the firmament 
from tho-waters which were under the firmament would 
be^ to enable man to distinguish between the truths 
which he loved and those which he only saw ; or be- 
tween truths in the will and those only in the under- 
standing. God called the firmament heaven, because it 
was the rational sphere of the kingdom which He was 
establishing in man. This is the second day or a new 
state of the mind. 

'' And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be 
gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land 
appear. And God called the dry land earth ; and the 
gathering together of the waters called He seas."" By 
the gathering together of the waters under the heav- 
ens, is meant the storing up, in the memory of the ex- 
ternal man, all the knowledge received from the Lord 
during regeneration. The memory is the great reser- 
voir of knowledges. Knowledges denote trulhs signi- 
fied by waters. And. all that we know is our sea of 
knowledge. The dry land is the good ground of the 
external mind — the basis of the kingdom of heaven — 
and is called the earth of the mind. By the Lord^s 
saying, ^^Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb 
yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his 
kind, whose seed is in itself,'' is meant the mental earth, 
or church in the mind, giving germination and growth 
to the various seeds of truth which have been sown in 
the dry land, through the Holy Word. This is the 
third day, or a more advanced state of mind when the 
fruits of righteousness are produced in the external 
mind by simple obedience. 



158 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

'' And God said, Let there be lights in the firma- 
ment of heaven, to divide the day from the night ; and 
let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and 
years : and let them be for lights in the firmament of 
the heaven, to give light upon the earth. And God 
made two great lights ; the greater light to rule the 
day, and the lesser light to rule the night : He made 
the stars also. And God set them in the firmament 
of the heaven, to give light upon the earth.'' Lights 
in the firmament of heaven are truths in the internal 
mind — the heaven of the soul. The sun in the heaven 
of the soul, from its heat, is pure love ; it is love to 
God and man. This is the heavenly Sun which ever 
speaks or gives off the light of truth. God is love — 
the Sun of righteousness. The Wisdom which He 
speaks is THE TKUTH— the Light of the world. 
The moon in the mind denotes faith, or the truth of 
faith. The moon is an opaque body ; without the 
light of the sun it is dark. Man's mind is opaque : 
without truth from God or from love, it is dark. The 
moon shines only by the light of the sun. Man's mind 
shines only by the truth of the Lord. The moon, then, 
is a beautiful symbol of faith. The stars signify fixed 
principles of truth, or true knowledges in the mind. 
.To set them in the firmament of heaven is to fix them 
in the internal mind. The lights are set there by 
means of love to God and faith in Him and His Word. 
Love to God sets the Sun in our heaven. True faith 
in Him puts the moon there. And the leading truths 
of the commandments, when loved, become bright and 
fixed principles or stars in our mental firmament. For 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 159 

these luminous bodies to give light upon our earth, is 
for them to illumine and guide our external man. The 
greater light to rule the day, means that the light of 
love should govern our affections, in every state of 
goodness. The lesser light to rule the night, means 
that the truth of faith may sustain and direct us, in 
the shady states of temptation ; having the stars or 
knowledges of truth, in the mean time, as fixed prin- 
ciples in our mental heavens. This is the fourth day, 
or a new state of mind, when we are in love of the 
truths, and can walk by their light from within. 

^^ And Grod said, Let the waters bring forth abun- 
dantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl 
that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of 
heaven. And God created great whales, and every 
living creature that moveth, which the waters brought 
forth abundantly, after their kind : and God saw that 
it was good.'" After love and faith and knowledges of 
the truths are thus, by the mercy and power of the 
Lord, established in the soul, and are in active oper- 
ation, warming the heart into life, from a clear view 
of right and wrong, the regenerating person begins truly 
to live. And now commences the creation of principles, 
within him, which have true intellectual life. They 
are signified by the creepings things and winged fowl 
and fishes which the waters brought forth abundantly. 
Creeping things denote all the lower natural principles 
of the mind; birds, the thoughts; fishes, things scientific. 
All these belong to the intellectual region of the mind 
where truth now reigns. Water is said to bring them 
forth, because truth cleanses, directs, governs and fills 



160 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

them with life from heaven. All our thoughts have 
new life : all our creeping inclinations are led by the 
truth to good ; and even our fishes^ or scientific princi- 
ples, are regulated by God's Word, and become living 
things of the mind. By God's blessing them, and say- 
ing, '' Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in 
the seas ; and let fowl multi]3ly in the earth,'' we are 
taught that everything in the intellectual region of the 
mind, which has life from the Lord, is ever fruitful, 
multiplying abundantly. This is the fifth day, or a 
new state of mind, when the truth comes down from 
our mental heaven warm with life from love to the 
Lord, filling all the things of the understanding with 
living emotions. 

'^ And God said. Let the earth bring forth the living 
creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and 
beast of the earth after his kind.' By the earth's 
bringing forth the living creature, cattle, beast, and 
creeping thing, is meant, that the external mind is now 
being animated with heavenly afiections. For animals 
and beasts denote the affections. And living creatures 
denote good affections ; such as love God and the 
neighbor. And this is a glorious state in- the j^i'ogress 
of regeneration, when our soul is filled with love and 
faith and knowledges of the truth, and is bringing 
forth every living creature — beast, bird, fish, insect — in 
true order ; when the whole soul, from internals to ex- 
ternals, is truly alive ; when every principle of the 
whole man is fruitful and multiplying with new goods 
and truths, and producing everything in the Microcosm, 
or human mind, which the Macrocosm and natural 
world would produce, if all were right. 



FIKST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 161 

'' And God said^ Let ns make man in onr image, 
after our likeness : and let them liave dominion over 
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and 
over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every 
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth/' Here 
we are taught that though God has been, all the while, 
creating man, yet, that he is not really Man, till he has 
God's image and likeness : and that he does not fully 
receive and enjoy these qualities, till he has dominion 
over the fish of the sea, fowl of the air, the earth, and 
creeping things. This makes him Man because it gives 
him freedom. The person who cannot govern himself 
is not free, and therefore is not worthy the name of 
Man. And as fish denotes scientifics, and sea, knowl- 
edges ; so, to have dominion over the fish of the sea, is 
to have such clear and rational views, from spiritual 
light, of the scientific principles of our general knowl- 
edge, as to keep them from falsifying our reasoningSj 
and biasing our judgment, and thus leading us into de- 
ceptive views, and a perverted philosophy. And tG 
have dominion over the fowl of the air, is so to govern 
all our thoughts, by the divine truth, as to keep them 
from foggy atmospheres, and wild and visionary schemes 
of salvation, and from thus running into delusive dreams 
and false doctrines. To have dominion over the cattle, 
is to control all our afiections by the divine love, that 
they may fall into no states of unkindness, covetous- 
ness nor cruelty ; but may ever act from the merciful 
spirit of Jesus. To have dominion over the creeping 
things of the earth, is to have the full and perfect con- 
trol over all the lower appetites and desires of the ex- 



162 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

ternal man^ in all their little selfish wants and way- 
ward suggestions. Thus, as men, in God's image and 
likeness, we are to have dominion over our entire men- 
tal earth, or external man ; having every thought, feel- 
ing and action — every desire and emotion of the will 
and understanding — governed by the love and wisdom 
of the Lord ; freely and rationally exercised, as though 
they were our own principles and powers. This is what 
gives us true rational freedom, and makes us real men, 
in the divine image and likeness. 

" So God created Man in His own image, in the image 
of God created He him : male and female created He 
them.'' Here we have an account of the creation of 
Man, male and female. Nothing is said of Adam or 
Eve ; nor of any individuals, as to sex. It is Man or 
mankind — the race — that is created. '' Male and fe- 
male created He them. And God blessed them, and 
said "unto them. Be fruitful and multiply, and replen- 
ish the earth, and subdue it : and have dominion over 
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over 
every living thing that moveth upon the earth.^' From 
this we see that the work of the creation was not yet 
completed. They had still got to subdue the earth, 
and gain the dominion over all the principles of their 
nature. And to accomplish this they must be fruitful, 
and multij)ly, and replenish the external mind, and 
subdue it. It must be brought under the entire con- 
trol of the internal mind. To effect this, they must 
plant the new truths from above in the good soil of 
the heart, and carefully bring forth the fruits, in the 
life and conversation. They must increase and multi- 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 163 

ply their affections and thoughts, for God and their 
neighbors, from the new goods and truths constantly 
given them : thus their beasts and birds must bring 
forth after their kind. This is a regular and pro- 
gressive work. And the male and female elements 
which must be engaged in this labor, belong to every 
individual. Thus each individual can bring forth 
spiritual things, and must therefore be fruitful and 
multiply in goods and truths, in himself, or herself. 
The male elements of the mind are things of the under- 
standing ; the female elements are things of the will. 
The union of these principles is spiritual marriage. It 
is a union of thoughts and feelings ; or of the will and 
the understanding : or, in its essence, it is a union of 
good in the will with truth in the understanding. By 
this union, the mind becomes harmonious, strong, and 
productive. The understanding, in order, gives us 
God's image : the will, in order, gives us His likeness. 
But no one can have either this image or this likeness, 
unless his will and understanding become united. This 
is because God's will and understanding, or love and 
wisdom, are never separated, but are one. And to be 
like Him ours must also be one. This great work, 
this new creation, not only unites the will and the 
understanding, but also the internal and external 
minds, or the heaven and the earth ; thereby, as the 
work progresses; bringing the whole mind into har- 
mony. 

^^ And God said. Behold I have given you every herb 
bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and 
every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding 



164 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

seed ; to you it shall be for meat/' Seeds denote truths. 
And by the command to take every seed-bearing herb 
and tree for food we are taught^ that every new truth, 
produced from all the varieties of herbs and trees, or 
from all the heavenly principles that grow from the 
good soil of the mental earth, must be loved and cher- 
ished in the soul. This is the way to be fruitful, and 
multiply and replenish the earth. None of the seeds 
of truth which we bear from the trees and herbs of our 
life must be lost. The plants must be eaten, and the 
seeds sown. The way to sow them in our heart is to 
give them to our neighbor. "When we affectionately 
give the truth to our neighbor, for his salvation^ it 
takes root in our own soul. 

^^ And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl 
of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the 
earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green 
herb for meat." This teaches us that we should bring 
all our good thoughts, affections and desires, to love, 
cherish and protect every tender germ and young plant 
of virtue, denoted by the green herb, which springs 
from the good ground of the soul : for this also is the 
way to be fruitful and multiply. Everything good 
which the heart produces is of God's planting, and 
should be tenderly cherished. To love a thing is to 
use it for food, or to make it our own. 

^^ And God saw every thing that He had made, and, 
behold, it was very good." All things were of course 
good, because God made them. ^^And the evening 
and the morning were the sixth day." The sixth day 
is that auspicious state of mind when all the thoughts 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 165 

feelings and actions — all the principles of the whole 
mind are mutually working together for good ; and 
progressing toward that seventh day or sabbath of 
rest, when the heavens and the earth will be finished 
and all the host of them. 



CHAPTEK X. 

THE FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS IN ITS PRACTICAL 
BEARING UPON THE REGENERATION OF MAN IN ALL 
AGES. 

" So God created man in His own image 5 in tlie image of God 
created He Iiim : male and female created He them. And God 
blessed them, and said, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish 
the earth and subdue it." (Gen. i. 27, 28.) 

Man is an immortal soul. Man is a living spirit. 
Man is an everlasting mind. Man is not matter. He 
lives here for a brief season in a house of clay. But 
that house is not the man. That house can neither see 
nor hear^ think nor feel, smell nor taste. It is the soul 
that does all these things through the body. The body 
is but a mere instrument, by which the soul op- 
erates upon natural things. Take the soul out of it, 
and what can the body do ? 

When God breathed into man the breath of lives, 
God pronounced him a living soul, not a material body. 
Nor did God breathe that breath of lives into a body of 
clay, but into an immortal mind, a spiritual body. 
The soul is primary ; the body is secondary. The life 
of the body is from the soul ; the life of the soul from 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 167 

God. What is God's breathy but the spirit of truth 
and love ? And what is the Word of God but that 
very breath ? God speaks it, that He may breathe 
that spirit into you and me ; that we too may become 
living souls. For if we receite into our souls the breath 
of truth and love we are alive unto God. But if riot, 
we are dead in sin, though still immortal. The first 
chapter of Genesis, before us, contains that holy, living 
breath of God. It is the spirit and life of Jehovah. 
And it is given to tell you and me how God makes spir- 
itual and living things. It is given to tell us how He 
makes the spiritual world rather than the natural : how 
He makes the souls of men, not their natural bodies ; 
and how He brings those souls into His own image and 
likeness. And in order to tell us how the souls of men 
are made, God brings up before our natural thought, in 
His own divine language and way, an apparent history 
of the creation of natural things, in order that the 
things of the soul, " the invisible things of God from 
the creation of the world may be clearly seen, being un- 
derstood by the things that are made T' 

The reason God brings up these natural things, sim- 
ply to tell bowmen's ^ouls are created, is, because these 
natural things all symbolize principles of the soul. And 
the history is so composed as to show, by correspond- 
ences, the process of the soul's spiritual creation or re- 
generation. These natural things must signify spirit- 
ual things, because God, Vv^ho is a spirit, made them. 
And they must denote principles in Him that made 
them, and still fills them with life, and gives them ac- 
tion. And as man was made in the image and likeness 



168 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

of God, SO the things of nature must also denote prin- 
ciples in man. 

And now, if we can only look clearly through the 
symbol to the real, we shall receive some of that spir- 
itual instruction and food for our souls, for which this 
portion of the Word of God is given. For, think you, 
the imperishable God speaks the words of eternal life to 
immortal souls, in merely telling them about the crea- 
tion of the perishable things of time ? It is of more 
importance to man to know how one soul is created in 
the image and likeness of God, than how millions of 
material worlds are made. For the whole universe of 
matter is but a mere shadow or reflex of the immor- 
tal minds of men. Seeing then, that Man is the world 
in miniature ; and that the universe of things possesses 
his qualities, and is a broad symbol of his mind, we 
can readily see that the creation of the human mind 
could be very accurately described in every principle and 
quality, and in a regular and successive development, 
by a history of the creation of natural things : the his- 
tory being so composed as clearly to set forth, -by the 
law of analogy, the creation of the minds of men, into 
the divine image. 

Now, if men are not ready to believe our premises, 
let them look at the matter. Let them assume the 
ground that this history of the creation is a history of 
the creation of the human mind. That the history is 
given by God to man, by arranging the things of nature 
in such order, in the history, as to express, by corre- 
spondences, the process of the creation of the human 
mind. I say. Let them assume this ground, and then 



FJRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 169 

look at the history as given solely for that purpose ; 
and a slight glimpse at the law of analogy will show 
them^ rationally, that everything which science or rea- 
son objects to, in this whole history, is entirely wiped 
away ; and all appears reasonable and consistent. All 
the great difficulties are now removed which have so 
much troubled and perplexed the commentators, re- 
specting the six days of creation as being at war with 
geology : or in regard to the sun's being made on the 
fourth day, as opposed to astronomical laws ; or con- 
cerning the garden of Eden ; the trees of the garden ; 
the serpent's talking : the forbidden fruit ; and the 
fall, over which there hangs so much dense darkness : 
or respecting the creation of Eve from a rib of Adam, 
after the seventh day ; when man had been created, 
male and female^ on the sixth day : or concerning the 
questions. Who was Cain's wife ? and who built the 
city of Enocii ? All these strange things, and many 
others, will be rationally explained, and the whole his- 
tory, in a spiritual light, will become profitable for doc- 
trine ; teaching the way of life, and the true duty of 
man to God and his neighbor. 

But some people say they take Grod at his word, in 
the literal sense, and that that is enough for them. 
Very well, obey and love the commandments till you. 
hate evil and love good, and your soul is safe. 

But there are others at this day who cannot do that 
Their intellect demands a reason for belief The Bi- 
ble, therefore, must speak to every soul for itself It 
is a merciful book and suits itself to all states. I can- 
not speak to you intelligently, upon the literal sense, 

8 



170 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

alone, of this history. It is dark to me. My under- 
standing demands what the letter alone fails to give. 
But I can say to you, understandingly, that there is a 
spiritual sense to be seen, by correspondences, through 
the literal, which is a history of the creation of the 
human mind, and is reasonable, beautiful and highly 
instructive : that it is precisely what the rational fac- 
ulty, in this scientific age demands : that in the early 
ages of our race, while the thoughts of man flowed along 
in union with the divine current, men saw it by intui- 
tion : that the science of correspondences was once well 
understood on this earth, but has long since been lost ; 
but that many great and good minds have, to some ex- 
tent, believed in it in all ages ; and that thousands are 
now embracing it. 

Hermes, the great Egyptian legislator, priest and 
philosopher, who, by his excellence, acquired the name 
of the Thrice Great^ and who flourished about the 
time of Moses, says, ^^ This visible world is but a pic- 
ture of the invisible, wherein are seen, as in a portrait- 
ure, counterfeit forms of more real substances, in the 
invisible fabric.'' And this was the prevailing belief 
of the learned ancients. They believed that the ma- 
terial world was a picture of the world of mind. Philo, 
who flourished A. D. 40, and who lived in the days of 
the Saviour, says, '^ The whole law of Moses is like a 
living creature, whose body is the literal sense, but 
whose soul, the more hidden meaning, is covered under 
the sense of the letter.'" 

Augustine, one of the early fathers of the church, 
says, ^^ In all things that God hath spoken, in His writ- 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 171 

ten word^ we must seek for a spiritual meaning/' 
Again he says^ ^^ As barley is covered with a stiff chaff, 
so that you come, with difficulty, to the nourishing 
part, so the Old Testament is clothed with Avrappings 
or tokens ; but if you once come to its marrow, it 
nourishes and satisfies/' Origen, another of the early 
fathers says, ^^ As a mutual affinity exists between 
things visible and things invisible, earth and heaven, 
soul and body ; so, also. Holy Scripture is made up of 
visible and invisible parts : first, a kind of body, or 
letter, which we see with the eyes, next the soul, or 
sense which is discovered within the letter/' Again, 
Origen says, ^ ^ They who find fault with the allegorical 
expositions of Scripture, and maintain that it has no 
other meaning than that which the texts shows, take 
away the key of knowledge/' 

We could fill a volume with quotations like these 
from the fathers and early Christians. St. Paul says 
in Galatians, ^^ It is written that Abraham had two 
sons, one by a bond-maid, and the other by a free wo- 
man, which things are an allegory ?'' Now, why an 
allegory ? It was a literal fact. And you may read 
the whole history of Abraham through, and you will 
see no reason why this was an allegory, any more than 
all the rest ; nor is it. 

Many of the deeply pious, in all ages, have supposed 
there must be some deep signification to the Scriptures, 
v/hich was not seen in the literal sense. Dr. Adam 
Clarke says, ^^ I appeal to all persons who have ever 
read the various comments that have been written on 
the Mosaic account, whether they have ever yet been 



172 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

satisfied ? Who was tlie serpent ? Of what kind ? 
In what way did he seduce the first happy pair ? These 
are questions which remain yet to be answered/'' Thus 
speaks Dr. Clarke. 

The pious Dr. Watts says^ ^^ Who can fathom the 
depth of the mystery of the Trinity^ the fall, the res- 
urrection, &c. But may they not be yet understood ? 
Who can say but that the dark cloud which now over- 
shadows this Mosaic history may some day be removed ? 
Who knows but God may raise up some man to ex- 
pound theso mysteries ?'' And Dr. Watt« was right 
in his suggestion. For the cloud is being removed. 
The light is now shining. These great and good men 
needed only the spiritual sense of the Word, and all 
would have been plain. Dr. Clarke would have then 
known who was the serpent. And Dr. Watts would 
have understood the trinity, the fall, and the resur- 
rection. It was no want of talent nor piety nor hu- 
man learning that these men saw not the spiritual 
sense. The rock had first to be smitten before the wa- 
ters would gush forth. The seals of the Word had 
first to be broken, before its internal sense could be 
known. No person could know, from any literal defi- 
nitions of terms, what was signified by the word ser- 
pent. He must first be shown that the serpent denotes 
a principle in the mind of man, and what that princi- 
ciple is. Had Dr. Clarke seen this he would never 
have looked out among the four-footed beasts of the 
earth, to find what tempted Eve. 

With these preliminary remarks we will proceed to 
the explanation of some of the leading features in the 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 173 

first chapter of Genesis. And you will constantly bear 
in mind, as we proceed, that the natural things men- 
tioned denote thins-s of the mind ; because the whole 
subject is the creation of the human mind. IN'ot cf 
one mind or two, and at a certain time, but of any 
mind or number of minds at any time. And remem- 
ber, also, that a mind, in a scriptural sense, is never 
considered created till it is in the image and likeness 
of God : and that the phrase, '^ in the beginning,'"' is 
as applicable to one period of time as to another. 
There is no beginning with God ; but there is a begin- 
ning with everything that is created. And so far as 
the thing created is concerned, the work is done in the 
beginning. It is, therefore, but a feeble and fragmen- 
tary thought that supposes that at a certain time, in 
the stillness of eternity, there was nothing in existence 
but God ; and that He then spoke into being the pres- 
ent universe. What ! The mighty God exist from all 
eternity up to a certain time without doing anything ? 
He is an Eternal Creator — ^^ the same yesterday, to -day, 
and forever" — a Creator always. An Infinite and Eter- 
nal God, with an infinite and eternal field to operate 
in, can always have been and forever be creating finite 
worlds and things, without filling His field or exhaust- 
ing His store. He is an eternal cause. And there 
cannot be a cause without an eff'ect. It will not do to 
suppose that infinite Love, Wisdom and Power ever 
existed without action, for that position could belong 
only to finite and passive things. 

The chapter under consideration opens by saying, 
'^ In the beginning God created the heaven and the 



174 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

earth/' Here commences the history of the creation 
of some human mind or minds : and it is applicable to 
any. person^ or persons^ of any age of the world^ Avho 
are beginning an existence in the image and likeness 
of God. And, for illustration^ let an infant of an hour 
lie, in imagination, before us. That helpless infant is 
not a man. But it is a mental germ, possessing planes 
and tendencies for the possible reception and operation 
of all the elements of the universe of mind. And with 
proper influx and development, it will become a man 
and an angel. The mind to be formed and developed 
from this infant, by j)roper influx and action, is to be 
connected with two worlds ; the natural and the spir- 
itual. And could we open that little germ of mind 
and look into its organization, we should find there an 
external plane of action, for the cultivation and exer- 
cise of thoughts and feelings in relation to this earth, 
or to material and earthly things. And this earthly 
plane of the mind is what is meant by the earth which 
God is said to have created in the beginning. There is 
also far within that earthly plane of the infant mind, 
a higher plane, for the cultivation and exercise of 
thoughts and feelings connected with heaven and heav- 
enly things. This higher plane is what is meant by 
the heaven which God is said to create in the begin- 
ning. But this heaven and earth — this immortal mind 
— is hidden in the infant germ, in mere tendencies and 
possibilities, just as the tree is concealed in the tenden- 
cies and possibilities of the acorn. And this little 
mental earth or infant mind is now ^^ without form, 
and void.'' The mind, at this early age, has no form 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 175 

or expression of truth. It seems to know nothing 
rationally. Darkness is^ literally^ upon the face of the 
mental deep. But gradually the eyes of the little mind 
begin to notice things : the brain is being developed, 
and the child learns things from without, through the 
senses, and stores them up in the external memory. 
Thus he grows and obtains knowledge. But it is 
worldly or natural knowledge : and water corresponds 
to that knowledge. Now this knowledge is the water 
upon the face of which the Spirit of God is said to 
move. As the child is taught to admit and respect the 
truths of this knowledge, as he obtains them, good 
ground is formed in his will. And it is because of 
this good ground, or regard for the truth, that the 
Spirit of God can move upon the face of the waters. 
For the Spirit of God is the power of the divine love 
and wisdom. Thus the youth begins to see the use and 
feel the force of the commandments : and to distinguish 
between right and wrong, truth and falsity. The truth 
of the Word operates upon the face of his knowledge, 
or upon his regard for the truth. If he had no natural 
knowledge he could not receive the truth of the Word. 
Now, God says to this mind, ^^ Let there be light [or 
truth] : and there was light.'' The mind begins now 
to really see, by the light of the Word, what are some 
of its natural duties of life. And God saw the light of 
this mind, that it was good for it. And God divided 
the light from the darkness : or enabled the mind to 
distinguish between truth and falsity. And God called 
the light day^ because truth is clear ; and the darkness 
He called nighty because falsity is obscure. The man 



176 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

now begins to see that all trutli is from the Lord, and 
that man's own wisdom is folly. ^'^And the evening 
and the morning was the first day.'' The evening is 
the state of shade and doubt which precedes the recep- 
tion of truth, and the morning is the state of light 
which follows. Here is the first day, or the first true 
state, which a man reaches in the proper development 
of his mind. He begins to see and regard truths from 
God. This is a state of natural faith in the Lord. It 
is the first day or first real light which belongs to the 
mind, 

'^ And God said. Let there be a firmament in the 
midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from 

the waters And God called the firmament 

heaven."" This firmament is the rational plane of the 
external mind — the heaven of the natural man. And 
its dividing the waters from the waters, is simply its 
distinguishing between the truths that are in the will, 
or loved, and those which are only of the understand- 
ing, or seen. Waters above the firmament are truths 
in the affections. Those under the firmament are 
truths only in the thoughts. And it is important to 
know whether we love the truth or not. And also to 
see what truths are loved and what are not. 

" And the evening and the morning were the second 
day/' The evening here means the state of shade and 
doubt upon the subject of truths loved, and truths only 
seen : and the morning is the new light which follows. 
Here we see the second day, or true state of mind, 
which man reaches, in the orderly development of his 
mental abilities. He now understands the difference 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 177 

between truths loved and truths only seen. This is a 
state of introduction to works of natural charity. For 
these truths tell us our duty to our neighbor ; and the 
love of them disposes us to do that duty. 

^^ And God said, Let the waters under the heaven 
be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry 
land appear.'" The waters under heaven are all the 
truths and knowledges of the external mind. And the 
gathering of them together, under heaven, is the stor- 
ing of them up in the external memory. Letting the 
dry land appear is learning to see and understand 
things of the wdll : to know the state of the heart. 
For the dry land is the will of the external man where 
the seeds of natural truth are sown. God called the 
dry land earthy because it is the will or soil of the ex- 
ternal mind or mental earth. He called the gathering 
together of the waters seas^ because seas are waters of 
the natural earth gathered together, as our knowledges 
are gathered together in the memory. '' And God 
said. Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding 
seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, 
whose seed is in itself, upon the earth.'' Here the 
earth, or will of the external mind, is producing or 
bringing forth good things, peaceful words, and kind 
actions, as the fruits of the seeds of truth which the 
Lord has planted. 

'^ And the evening and the morning were the third 
day." The evening here is the state of shade and 
doubt upon the subject of obedience and good works. 
And the morning is the truth and love which follow. 
And we never perform works of charity, in obedience 



178 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

to God's law, without receiving light and joy as a re- 
ward. Here we have the third day, or third state, 
which a man reaches in the proper development of his 
mind. He begins now to bring forth the fruits of 
charity and faith, in good works. Here are the union 
and ultimate of faith, charity and good works, in the 
natural plane of the mind. This brings him into a 
state in which the internal plane of the mind can be 
opened and illuminated. He is now a good natural 
man, prepared, by the literal truth of God's Word, for 
higher light. 

" And God said. Let there be light in the firmament 
of the heaven, ... to give light upon the earth.'' 
The period has now arrived in man's progress when the 
internal rational of his mind — the firmament of his 
spiritual heaven — is opened, so that he can receive into 
his internal man, something of the divine love, the di- 
vine truth and true knowledges, symbolized by the 
sun, moon and stars. Under this state of things, the 
church — the kingdom of heaven in the soul — begins to 
arise, and shine ; for its light has come ; and the glory 
of the Lord is risen upon it. And this light is in the 
heaven, or internal mind, to give light upon the earth 
or external mind. And, from henceforth, the natural 
mind will always have light from above, to which it 
can look for direction. The Sun of love, or of Kighteous- 
ness, will rule the day, or when the mind is in a state 
receptive of new truths, and is rejoicing in the light of 
love to God and man. And the Moon of faith will 
rule the night, or when we are in the shades of apathy 
and selfhood, in the temptations of the world ; hav- 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 179 

ing^ at the same time^ for support the stars of divine 
truth, prominent in the commandments, as fixed and 
eternal principles of knowledge, constantly beaming 
from the mental heaven. Then, should the Lord, the 
Sun of Eighteousness, seem, for a season to be hid from 
our view, yet, true faith in Him would sustain us with 
the assurance that our Lord liveth : just as the moon 
assures us, when the sun is out of sight, that he still 
shines. The moon, then, like true faith, is truly the 
evidence of something not seen. 

^^ And the evening and the morning v/ere the fourth 
day.'' The evening here is the state of shade and doubt 
respecting the internal mind ; and the morning is the 
state of light v/hich follows the illumination of the 
heaven. Here we have the fourth day or state of the 
true development of the mind, when the internal plane 
becomes opened to the reception of the spiritual sense 
of the Holy Word, whereby the natural man can be 
governed by higher and clearer truth, and purer love. 
Up to this time, or during the first three days, the 
natural mind or earth, only, has been developed ; and 
that by natural sciences and natural truths of the 
Word. 

The first day, or state of light, was when the Spirit 
of God moved upon the face of the w^aters, or excited 
the affection of the common knowledge of the mind, to 
see the literal truth of the commandments, causing 
light or day to be in the mind from God. 

The second day or state was when man began to love 
the truth, and to distinguish between truth loved, and 
truth only seen : so that he could then divide the wa- 



180 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

ters or truths which were in the understanding from 
those in the will. 

The third day or state was when he began to do the 
good works, from the union of this love and this truth; 
denoted by the earth or natural mind bringing forth 
grass, and herbs, and trees. Thus, the first three days 
have relation to the understanding, the will, and the 
action of the natural mind ; or to faith, charity and 
works. 

The first day, is the truth seen and acknowledged ; 
the second, is the truth yielded to and loved ; the 
third, is truth obeyed from love, or through faith and 
charity. This brings the natural mind, or external 
man, into outward order, by means of natural faith, 
charity and works, through the literal truth of the 
Word. But it does not make him a spiritual man. 
Yet he never could become a spiritual man, till after 
he had passed through this process. ^^ First that which 
is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual." 

But the fourth day opens our heaven, or internal 
mind, to the reception of the glorious light of the in- 
ternal sense of the Word, symbolized by the sun, moon 
and stars. This light is to come down from our heaven 
to our earth, to spiritualize the whole natural mind, 
filling everything with new light and higher life, making 
natural truth as spiritual ; or turning the water into 
wine ; causing our whole natural mind to act from 
spiritual influences. This change is what God means 
when he says, " Behold, I make all things new.'' And 
for this purpose, the history continues, ^^ And God 
said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving 



FIKST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 181 

creature that hathlife^ and fowl that may fly above the 
earth in the open firmament of heaven.'*' Thus the 
waters^ the natural truths of the mind become illumi- 
nated and impregnated with spiritual life from the 
Lord, the spiritual Sun. And the history says they 
brough forth great whales and every hving creature 
that moveth. That is : they brought forth the great 
sciences of the spiritual doctrines of the Word, and the 
science of correspondences. And these are indeed great 
whales. They are the largest scientifics in the sea, or 
knowledge of the human mind. And thence the very 
thoughts become spiritually alive. These thoughts are 
signified by the birds that fly above the earth in the 
open firmament of heaven. 

" And the evening and the morning were the fifth 
day."" The evening is the state of shade and doubt, 
which we first have in the natural mind, respecting the 
spiritual sense of the Word ; and the morning is the 
state which follows the descent of spiritual light from 
the heaven of the mind into the natural plane. Here 
we have the fifth day, or state of development, v>^hen 
the natural mind becomes receptive of spiritual light 
from the kingdom of heaven within. We now give 
God the glory for every true thought, and for every 
scientific and rational principle of our mental earth. 

^' And God said. Let the earth bring forth the living 
creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and 
beast of the earth after his kind : and it was so.'' 
Here by the aid of the sun of love, and the moon of 
faith, and the stars of knowledge, in the heaven of the 
mind, the natural man or earth is enabled to bring forth 



182 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

beasts and birds, and creej)ing things wbich have life : 
or all good affections, true thoughts, and kind actions- 
Before the heavens were opened, when we had not the 
Sun of Eighteousness in our heart, or did not truly 
love the Lord as spirit and life, our earthly mind brought 
forth nothing but grass, herbs and trees ; or the fruits 
of natural obedience. But now, it brings forth spirit- 
ual things, living affections, and heavenly thoughts, 
signified by beasts, birds, cattle, and creeping things 
that have life. This is a glorious state of the church 
when we are filled with true light and life, with heav- 
enly thoughts and feehngs of every variety. As this 
propitious state is reached in the progress of regenera- 
tion, and man is about to be completed as far as the 
spiritual degree, God continues the history by saying, 
^^Let us make Man in our image, after our likeness.'" 
That is : Let us now complete the spiritual work, and 
bring man more fully up into our image, after our 
likeness. Let us give him what makes him more fully 
a man, which is ^^ dominion over the fish of the sea, 
and over the fowl of the air, and over all the earth, 
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the 
earth/' To have dominion over all these things is 
simply for man to have the government of himself ; to 
control all his thoughts, feelings, affections, passions, 
and propensities. In this light only can this Scripture 
be understood. For what dominion has man over the 
eagle that flies above the mountain summit ; or over 
the wild beast of the impenetrable forest, or the mon- 
sters of the unknown deep ? But man was to have 
dominio, over every living creature. Has he got it ? 



FIRST CHAPTEK OF GENESIS. 183 

Can lie command the soaring vultures or voracious al- 
ligators to come down from their heights and up from 
their depths and stand submissive at his feet^ and they 
obey him ? He may shoot them ; or entrap and encage 
them^ but that is no dominion. He may lead them by 
their appetites^ or ensnare them by stratagem ; but 
dominion means more than this. He cannot call them 
out, at the fiat of his will^ and march them forth at 
his command. He has no such dominion. Further- 
more, he was to have dominion, not only over these 
creatures, but also over the earth itself. And what 
control has he over the earth upon which we stand? It 
rolls on its axis and pursues its annual round, regard- 
less of the will of man. No : it is his mental earth 
over which he is to have dominion. He was to possess 
the government over his external or earthly mind and 
nature. But in order to do this each human mind is 
endowed with a will and an understanding which are 
the male and female elements of that mind. For all 
dominion, and even action, in any person is from the 
united power of these elements. The understanding 
is the male element ; and the will, the female. When 
tho will is filled with goodness and the understanding 
with truth, and they become thereby united, they are 
prepared to work for a dominion overall the principles 
of the external mind or earth ; and even over the entire 
earthly mind itself. But this dominion is gained only 
as the mind, by means of this union, becomes fruitful 
and multiplies in goods and truths, and thereby replen- 
ishes the earth, or external mind, with those new goods 
and truths, as its evils and falses are removed or sub- 



184 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

dued. Thus is our mental earth to be subdued and 
brought under subjection to the Lord in the internal 
mind. 

'' And God saw every thing that He had made, and, 
behold, it was very good.'' God has, thus far, done a 
good work. But it is not yet completed. The do- 
minion is not yet gained. 

^^ The evening and the morning were the sixth day.'' 
The evening is the state of shade and doubt respecting 
this dominion and the w^ay of obtaining it ; and the 
morning is the new light which shows us the work be- 
fore us, and how to pursue it. Man is now in God's 
image, but not in His likeness. He is a spiritual man. 
This image is after God's likeness. The love of the 
truth gives us God's image. The love of goodness gives 
us His likeness. 

This likeness is to be gained by being fruitful, and 
multiplying and replenishing the earth, and subduing 
it. This work, when accomplished, brings us into the 
seventh day or state of rest, when we possess both the 
image and the likeness of God, and are prepared to en- 
joy with delight, the society of the angels of heaven. 
To be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, 
and subdue it, is to cultivate the affections, the ground 
of the heart, by a good life ; sowing therein all the 
good seeds or truths of the commandments, subduing 
all the thorns of error, the nettles of vice, the thistles 
of deception, and the briers of selfishness ; until the 
mind becomes a garden of Eden, filled with good fruits ; 
a paradise of God, cultivated, subdued and replen- 
ished ; so that we have the complete control over all 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 185 

tlie birds, beasts and creeping things of onr nature, or 
over all our thoughts, feelings and actions. Then, the 
kingdom of heaven will be fully established within us. 
We shall have come to the full sabbath of rest ; and all 
will be happiness and peace. God will bless us, and all 
the ends of the earth will praise Him. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS AND THE MAKING 
OF THE WOMAN OF THE RIB. 

" And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should 
be alone ; I will make him an help meet for him. And the Lord 
God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept ; and He 
took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and 
the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a 
woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said. This is 
now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh : she shall be called 
Woman because she was taken out of Man." — (Gen. ii. 18, 21, 22, 23.) 

If we would understand God^s Word, we must ever 
remember that it always treats of things of the mind. 
That the human mind is its universal theme : that 
natural things are mentioned, only, because they are 
symbols of things of the mind : and because, in this 
life, spiritual things can be described, or seen, only 
through natural things, by correspondences. And 
though, from a little reflection, we may see that this 
must be the case, yet we are so natural and so grovel- 
ling that we are apt to lose sight of this great fact and 
fall into darkness and mystery. 

Thus, when we read about Adam and Eve, we are 
apt to think of their material bodies instead of them- 



SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 187 

selves. We think of the mere tabernacles of clay that 
they lived in, without letting our thoughts ascend up 
to the inhabitants of these tabernacles, the real beings 
themselves. Now, until we get into the habit of look- 
ing above the mere gross matter of this earth, for men 
and women, we shall never understand God's Holy 
Word. Indeed, it is in consequence of our low natural 
state of mind that the Word seems clothed in such 
mystery. For, when it is said that the Lord God took 
from Adam's side a rib, and made a woman of it, who 
thinks of anything but matter ? a material woman ? 
Who thinks of her soul, and her life ? Who thinks 
of any part of her, as coming from any other source 
than the rib ? The mind, the affections, the will and 
understanding ; the very woman herself ; everything 
that can love, and think, and feel ; all that is noble 
and immortal is not even dreamed of, or taken into the 
account. And yet these things were never made of 
matter. 

Even the learned commentators have never looked 
up above the rib for this woman. They have seemed 
to think that the whole woman ; all there was of her, 
was made of the man's rib. They do not mention her 
soul ; but are content to believe that the woman, the 
wife of Adam, was made of one of his ribs. I commend 
them for this modesty, and for their humble reliance 
upon the letter of God's Word. It is all men can 
know about it, who see no higher than the literal sense. 
The commentators have tried to believe that the second 
chapter of Genesis is somewhat explanatory of the first. 
But every step in that direction has but increased the 



188 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

darkness. Thus, Scott, in commencing his notes upon 
the second chap ter, says, '' The sacred historian, having 
given a brief account of the orderly production of all 
things, explains, in this chapter, some particulars, more 
fully, which would otherwise have interrupted the order 
of his narrative.'' Here Mr. Scott admits that Ave have 
an account of the creation of man, male and female, in 
the first chapter of Genesis. But, in the first chapter, 
it does not mention of what material man was made ; 
nor that he was so much as a living soul. It simply 
says, '^ God created man in His own image, in. the 
image of God created He him : male and female created 
He them ; and hlessed them ; and said, Be fruitful, 
and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.'' 

But in the second chapter it says, '' The Loed God 
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed 
into his nostrils the breath of lives ; and man became 
a living soul." But no literal reader of the Word sup- 
poses that Eve was made at this time with Adam, and- 
received the breath of lives and became a living soul ; 
for the narrative gives the account of her creation after- 
ward, of the rib ; but it gives no account of any breath 
of lives being breathed into her, to make her a living 
soul. Hence the commentators, generally, have taken 
it for granted, that Eve, the wife of Adam, was made 
of his rib : and that Adam was made of the dust of 
the earth. 

But the discrepancies between the two chapters are 
so great, that all attempts to make the second explana- 
tory of the first, have failed. The first chapter says 
that man — male and female — was made on the sixth 



SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 189 

day : and we should suppose that they were both made 
at the same time^ and not until after the animals were 
made. But the second chapter says that Adam, or 
Man, was first made, and that afterward God planted 
a garden, and there He put the man ; and that He next 
caused to grow out of the ground, every tree that is 
pleasant to the sight and good for food ; and the tree 
of life also, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of 
knowledge of good and evil. Here the man was alone 
all the time that the trees were growing up, from the 
planting until they bore fruit. And the man, it seems, 
in this solitude, with no human being to enjoy these 
blessings v/ith him, was commanded not to eat of a cer- 
tain tree. And it seems that he did not eat of it until 
some time after the command was given, nor until the 
woman had been made of the rib. For it was not un- 
til after Adam had lived in the garden, to see these 
trees grow up, and bear fruit, and had received the 
command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good 
and evil, and after the Lord God had seen that it was 
not good for man to be alone, and had promised to make 
an help meet for him ; and also after he had further 
gone to work and formed every beast of the field, and 
every fowl of the air, and had brought them to Adam 
to see what he would call them, and after Adam had 
given the names to all cattle, and the fowl of the air, 
and every beast of the field — it was not until after all - 
this had taken place that Eve was formed of the rib, 
and the forbidden fruit was eaten. Thus, in the first 
chapter, every other thing was created before man. He 
was the last thing formed. Man was made male and 



190 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

female on tlie sixth clay. And Grod said to him, Be- 
hold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which 
is upon the face of the earth/ and every tree in the 
which is the fruit yielding seed : to you it shall be for' 
meat. 

But, in the second chapter, it appears that Adam 
without Eve, was made before the trees were, of which 
he was to eat ; and before the beasts and birds were 
made : and that he was put alone in the garden, which 
G-od had planted, before the trees had come up : and 
that the beasts, and birds, and trees, were made after 
Adam was made, but before Eve was made : and that 
the command, not to eat of the forbidden fruit was not 
given to Eve, personally ; but only to Adam : for Eve 
was not made until some time after the command was 
given. Now these are all strange things, if we look 
only to the literal sense. Every attempt to reconcile, 
or explain fhem, has only deepened the darkness. And 
the pious commentator has felt his own weakness in 
the matter ; and has humbly believed in the mystery, 
saying, '^ Let God be true, and every man a liar.'' 

But we should know that all this divine history is 
about the minds of men, rather than their bodies. It 
teaches the order of the creation and development of 
the human mind. It is the immortal soul — the mind — 
that is the man. It is this that God talks about and 
cares for. The spiritual world — the eternal world — 
the world of mind — is the world which God speaks of 
creating. Now, if we can only see and acknowledge, 
that there are two worlds — ^^a world of mind and a world 
of matter — and that the world of mind has as many 



SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 191 

things in it as tlie world of matter has ; and that the 
things of both worlds are called by the same names^ 
we shall then be able to understand more clearly the 
teachings of the Holy Word. For we shall see that 
the mind has its mountains of sin or holiness, its rivers 
of truth or falsehood, its stars of light, its sun of 
righteousness, its trees of knowledge, its lambs of inno- 
cence, its wolves of cruelty, its foxes of deceit, its ser- 
pents of subtlety. We shall indeed see that all the 
things of nature denote things of the mind. For mind 
produced them : mind gives them life ; and therefore 
they must represent the mental quahty which gives 
them form and use. And, as the various principles of 
the mind bear the same names as the things of nature 
do which denote them, so we may always readily know 
something about what God means, when He talks about 
the things of nature. 

Now the Divine Word commences by giving a his- 
tory of the creation of the human mind ; no matter 
what natural thing is mentioned^ it means something 
of the mind. And it continues to describe the states 
and qualities of the human mind until it comes to its 
close in the Apocalypse. Primarily, it treats of nothing 
else but the mind. All its creations and falls, its hghts 
and shades, its days and nights, its heats and colds, its 
times and seasons, its floods and droughts, its clouds 
and sunshines, its storms and calms, its earthquakes 
and tempests, its lives, deaths and diseases, wars and 
tumults ; everything it says describes states and quali- 
ties of the minds of men. Yet we are not to lose 
sight of the fact that there is much literal history in 



192 SECOND CHAPTER OF GEiTESIS. 

the divine Word, which took place, in this world, as 
there recorded. But it is, at the same time, a history 
of the human mind, and accurately describes, by cor- 
respondences, the things that were going on there. Bub 
there are also many portions of the Word which are 
given solely on account of the spiritual sense, when the 
literal events did not occur, as recorded. 

Such are the first eleven chapters of Genesis, much of 
the books of Ezekiel and of the Apocalypse ; and occa- 
sional sentences throughout the entire Word ; thrown 
in to complete the spiritual sense, when the literal event 
could not occur. This is done because the spiritual 
sense is the main sense. It is the sense which reaches 
the soul, and becomes the spiritual and eternal life of 
them that receive it. And it is not generally difficult 
to decide whether the literal event occurred or not. 
For, in all cases, where the literal event is not in har- 
mony with the natural laws, it did not occur. 

All the natural laws are laws of God. TAem, God 
never acts against. For He cannot act against Him- 
self 

But let us not be hasty to decide against the occur- 
rence of any natural event recorded in the Word. It is 
the spiritual sense which we can understand which most 
concerns us. Let ns thankfully receive and obey this ; 
and when further advanced in spiritual life we may be 
able to see more clearly how far the natural events ac- 
tually took place. 

With these general remarks, let us now glance at the 
subject of our text, in its spiritual light. For, in this 
light, all the apparent discrepancies, between the first 
and second chapters of Genesis, pass away. Kemember, 



SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 193 

it is the mind of man tliat is treated of. And that 
when the first chapter ends^ the mind of man is not 
finished. It has then only reached a certain state in 
its progress. There is no such thing as completing or 
finishing the creation of the human mind. It may- 
progress for ever, and still be incomplete. There will 
be more knowledge to add to it. It is nothing else than 
an organized substance of afiections and thoughts ; or 
thino-s of the will and understanding: arran2:ed in a hu- 
man form^ in a spiritual body and capable of being 
taught of God. And such as is the quality of its know- 
ledge and desires^ such will be its beauty or deformity, 
its happiness or misery : and it is free to learn and 
practise either good or evil. 

The word '- Man/' in the first chapter of Genesis, 
means mankind — the human race — male and female, 
without regard to numbers. The history is a history 
of the creation of the human mind, in mass ; of hu- 
manity, or human nature at large. Adam means man- 
kind. The words ^^ Adam and Eve,"' in their distinct 
differences, do not mean one man and one woman ; 
they mean the two great elements of the human mind 
— the male and female elements ; extending through 
the whole human family. They mean the Adam or 
male principle, and the Eve or female principle of the 
race. These two elements of the mind are the under- 
standing and the will. The understanding, in the spir- 
itual degree of the mind,-'** is the male principle or 

* In the celestial degree, the will is the male and the under- 
standing the female. But in these lectures we explain only to 
the spiritual sense. 

9 



194 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

Adam of the mind ; and the will is the female 
principle or Eve of the mind. These jDrinciples belong 
to all minds^ both of men and women. Every person, 
therefore, has his A (Jam and his Eve of the mind ; 
or his understanding and his will. In the women, the 
will principle, the love or affections — the female element 
— predominates. In men, the understanding — the rea- 
soning element — the male principle predominates. And 
as woman has the broader will, affections, tenderness 
and mercy ; and man the deeper understanding, judg- 
ment, reason and courage; so the two brought to- 
gether make one mind, more full and perfect than either 
could be by itself. For each supplies the other's de- 
ficiency. Their marriage, therefore, gives them that 
fulness of happiness, which they could not otherwise 
enjoy. 

Now, in order to give, in the first chapter of Genesis, 
a history of the creation of the human mind in mass, 
God has apparently given a history of the creation of 
natural things, because they represent things of the 
mind. And the things are so arranged, in the history, 
in their order, as to show the regular creation and de- 
velopment of the mind. 

In the order of creation the natural or external man, 
called the earth of the mind, is always first developed. 
This development is described in the first chapter by 
the earth bringing forth grass, and plants, and trees ; 
things which denote principles of the natural mind^ 
Then, as the human race grows up to years of under- 
standing, there follows an account of the creation or 
development of the internal mind, or heavens, which is 



SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 195 

described by the creation of the sun, moon and stars 
and of the animals ; things ^hich denote the principles 
of the spiritual mind. Then follows what is called the 
creation of man, where God says, Let us make man in 
our image. He had been making man all the while, 
but had not brought him into His image. This was 
done by bringing the internal and external minds — their 
wills and understandings — together, into harmony ; so 
that the male and female elements of the mind, could 
work together. 

Here closes the first chapter. The mind of the race 
is becoming spiritual. But their work is not done. 
The command to them is to be fruitful, and multiply, 
and replenish the earth, and subdue it ; which shows 
that the mind, the mental earth, is not yet subdued 
and replenished. And it also shows that the various 
principles, which God is giving it, must bring forth 
after their kind. The race has only now entered upon 
the sixth day or state. It has not reached the seventh. 
It has not come to its rest. It has much labor to do 
first. It is now in its spiritual working state.' In this 
state truth rules. 

In the second chapter man progresses on to the ce- 
lestial state ; or to where love predominates. But this 
state he does not reach until he has gained the entire 
control over all the lower principles of his mind, which 
require much cultivation and development. Therefore, 
in order to reach this state, God commands him, in the 
first chapter, to have dominion over the fish of the sea, 
the fowl of the air, and every living thing that moveth 
upon the earth. Which means that he shall get con- 



196 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

trol over all tlie passions, principles and propensities of 
the mind and body. This would prepare the race for 
the seventh state of mind, or sabbath of rest, mentioned 
in the second chapter. For here the Lord says, that, 
on the seventh day God ended His work which he 
had made ; and He rested on the seventh day from all 
His work which He had made. This closes the spiritual 
labor and introduces to a still higher order of things ; 
or to a further development, in which man is to be 
made celestial, or to be advanced to a state in which 
love predominates. And, in speaking of this higher 
state, it is said, in the second chapter, there was not a 
man to till the ground. 

Now what does this mean when the whole human 
race had been created, and had advanced to the spirit- 
ual state ; and had replenished the earth and subdued 
it? We shall see what it means by noticing the pecu- 
liarity of the terms used in the two chapters, to denote 
the external plane of the mind. In the first chapter it 
is called the earth ; and in the second chapter it is 
called the ground. In the first chapter they were to 
subdue the earth. In the second chapter they were to 
till the ground. Subduing the earth is spiritual labor ; 
tilling the ground is celestial labor. Subduing the 
earth makes it good ground for tilling. The reason 
there was no man to till the ground is, there was then 
no celestial man. Man had advanced only to the spirit- 
ual state. There were many men to subdue the earth ; 
or to overcome and strengthen the natural mind. But 
there was not a man to till the ground, or to fill the 
natural mind with celestial life, by tilling it from love. 



SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 197 

The earth means the external mind made spiritual, 
or acting from the love of truth. The ground means 
the external mind made celestial^ or acting from the 
love of good. To replenish the earthy and subdue 
it is to dispose the external man to do right, because 
he sees it to be right. This is the spiritual state, v^hen 
the truth rules. To till the ground is to dispose the 
external man to do right, because h.^ feels it to be right. 
This is the celestial state, -when love rules. There- 
fore it is, that there was said to be no man to till the 
ground — nobody yet celestial. 

You will notice that in the first chapter the ground 
is not mentioned ; but it is the earth that brings forth : 
and the word God only is used. By which we are to 
understand that the human mind was all the while un- 
der the control of the truth, and becoming spiritual, 
being educated and instructed by truth. But, in ad- 
vancing man to a higher state, in the second chapter, 
the word ground is used, and it is the Lord God who 
does the work : or, in the original, Jehovah God, or 
Love and Truth. In the first chapter it is Grod, opera- 
ting as the Truth, that makes man spiritual. But in 
the second chajoter it is Jehovah God, or, both the 
Truth and Love operating together in the heart, that 
makes man celestial. Therefore, though it may be 
thought, by some, that the second chapter is a repeti- 
tion of man's creation in the first chapter, yet it is not 
so. 

The second chapter takes man where the first leaves 
him, and advances him on from the spiritual state to 
the celestial state. And this advancement is described 



198 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

in the following language : ^^ And the Loud God 
formed man of the dust of the ground^ and breathed 
into his nostrils the breath of lives ; and man became 
a living soul/' Here we see that tha celestial state is 
effected by bringing love and good will down into the 
lowest^ smallest things of the external mind — into the 
very dust of the ground. Now this is accomplished by 
doing all the little things of life kindly^ from the love 
of the neighbor. Dust denotes the lowest external 
natural things of man. This work is what forms man of 
the dust of the ground. It makes him manly in small 
things. Thus man tills the ground of the mind until 
the very lowest natural things are filled with celestial 
love — ^love to God^ and good ivill toward men. Then 
the whole man is celestial — ^lovely. This makes man a 
living soul ; because it makes all his natural affections 
alive with love 

Now he is prepared to make a garden of the mind ; 
because he can now till the ground. Therefore^ it is 
next said that^ ^^ the Lord God planted a garden east- 
ward in Eden.'' This garden of Eden, is the human 
mind ; not of one person^ only ; but of all the human 
family then upon the earth. The race was advancing 
from spiritual to celestial. The trees of this garden 
arc all the principles of the mind growing from the 
ground of love. The rivers of the garden are truths 
flowing from the Lord. Here the human family, in this 
stata of paradise, were commanded to dress and keep 
this garden of the mind. Here all the principles of 
the mind w^ere made new, and put on the celestial as- 
pect and quality. The very affections of the soul were 



SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 199 

new ; and the people understood their quality : they 
could read their own hearts. 

This state is described in the following language : 
^^ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast 
of the field; and every fowl of the air ; and brought 
them unto Adam to see what he would call them.'" 
Beasts of the field denote man's affections ; and birds 
of the air, his thoughts. And Adam gave names to 
them. To name a thing is to ascertain its quality. 
Thus the human race^ at that age, understood the 
quality of all their affections and thoughts : or, they 
could give names to all their beasts and birds. 

Here, in the second chapter, we see that the animals 
and trees are created over again. It is because, in the 
first chapter, these principles of the mind were created 
from the truth : and the earth produced them. Now 
they are created from love : and the ground gives them 
forth, and man becomes a living soul. Here we have 
the highest state to which the human race advanced 
before the fall ; and yet Eve is not mentioned. Here 
they were, in their purity and happiness. There were 
many of them, no doubt, in number, both males and 
females. For we have every reason to believe, that it 
must have taken many years to advance the human 
race from a state of entire ignorance, when darkness 
was upon the face of the deep, up to this high state of 
celestial light and joy. And how many ages they en- 
joyed this high state, before they fell, we know not. 

But in process of time they found that it was not 
good to be alone. They wanted a help meet. This 
uneasy state of mind was the germ of the fall. To be 



200 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

alone is to be single-minded with G-od. It is to not feel 
at liberty to act our own way. It is to be one in heart 
and mind, and one with the Lord. It is to have no two 
sides to anything ; no two parties : but to all yield, 
implicitly, to the Lord's will, without exercising any 
independence of thought and feeling contrary to the 
Lord's will ; or following any new inclinations which 
they might sometimes feel. Thus they gradually began 
to get tired of this oneness of state, and to want variety; 
and to think and act more uncontrolled, more in their 
own way ; more as many, than as one alone. They 
wanted the privilege of saying either yes or no. This 
state of mind is what is meant by its not being good 
for man to be alone. It was good : but it had ceased 
to seem good to them. Therefore, it is said that, ^^ the 
Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and 
he slept.'' Adam, here, remember, means the human 
race, males and females : it means humanity, as it then 
was, upon the earth. The Lord is said to bring upon 
mankind this deep sleep, because He is said, in Scrip- 
ture, to do what He only permits to be done. The 
human race, in reasoning from their own wisdom and 
exercising their own proprium, began to fall into a state 
of darkness and doubt as to whether their wisdom was 
all from the Lord, or partly from themselves. This 
darkness and doubt is the deep sleep. They were no 
longer awake and alive to their own duties. Their un- 
derstandings were becoming dark and their affections 
cold. The understanding is the male element of the 
mind, and the will, or heart, is the female element. 
Thus, the darkened understanding of the race was the 
Adam that was asleep. And the cold indifferent state 



SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS 201 

of the will was the rib that was taken away. This was 
done by the Lord by enabling the race to see and un- 
derstand that men had a selfhood ; and that they were 
free to exercise that selfhood as their own^ and there- 
fore to be no longer alone^ provided they would ac- 
knowledge that the will^ the understanding and the 
power to do so were of the Lord. This was a new truth 
that they had not before seen ; and it produced a new 
state of mind^ gi^'iiig them much joy. For this truth^ 
in the understandings or in the Adam or male principle 
of the mind^ could bo received and warmly embraced by 
the affections or the Eve principle of the mind. Thus 
the mind^ which was before dark and cold^ was now 
light and warm. This new truth, in the understand- 
ing, is the Lord, the Word or the husband. And this 
new affection of truth in the will is the church, the 
bride. And this union of good in the will with the 
truth in the imder standing is always used as the sym- 
bol of the relation between husband and wife. The 
race received this new state of the affections, the Eve 
principle, through the truth in the understanding, 
which showed them that they were free agents. Thus 
these affections, or Eve, are said to be taken out of man, 
because they were received through the truth, in the 
understanding — the male element : and as the under- 
standing and will are now brought together, it is there- 
fore added that a man shall leave his father and mother 
and cleave unto his wife, and they twain shall be one 
flesh. Thus the cold, hard, bony state of the race, was 
taken away from their affections, or from the side of 
man, and a warm, soft state, was given in its stead 

9- 



202 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

Bones are often spoken of^ in the Word^ in reference 
to the state of the heart, or the affections — the pro- 
prium. ThuS; the Psalmist says, '' Make me to have joy 
and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken 
may rejoice/' Here broken bones are broken affections, 
dejected spirits, or subdued self hood. Breaking a bone 
is the same as taking out a rib, or destroying the love 
of self. Thus it is written, ^^ Hear, Israel, for my 
bones are vexed ; all my bones are broken ; all my 
bones are out of joint ; my bones are consumed.'' In 
all these places the self-love or selfhood is meant, 
j^gain, '' All my bones shall say. Lord, who is like unto 
Thee ?" 

Now, one peculiar point of interest, in this subject, 
and the one of which we should be careful not to lose 
sight, is the human selfhood or proprium. This self- 
hood is the mysterious line of distinction between man 
and his God. It is the point expressive of what there 
is of man specially ; and of what the two different 
states of man's proprium are — the state in order and 
the state in disorder : or the state before the rib is 
taken away and that afterward : for man's selfhood is 
either dead or alive. It is dead when he loves self for 
the sake of self. It is alive when he lov^s self for 
the sake of the Lord ; for then he loves his neighbor as 
himself. He loves all that God has created, himself 
among the rest, as the creatures of God's hands, whom 
God himself loves, and whom we should love also as 
God's children. 

Now, the very point to be noted is this : man had 
begun to feel some little regard or love for himself, in 



SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 203 

contradistinction to his love for the Lord. And in try- 
ing to study into the nature and quality of his own 
selfhood and exclusive powers, he fell into that state of 
profound darkness and doubt, called deep sleep, in 
which most men are, at this day, upon this very sub- 
ject of human selfhood. Man, then, wanted to feel 
himself to be something distinct from his God, and to 
love himself in this distinction, and to love his God 
also. He wanted to divide his affections between him- 
self and his God, so as not to be alone, or in oneness 
in the action of those affections. So the Lord pro- 
vided that he might love himself or his own selfhood, 
on condition that he would remember and acknowledge 
that all that there was which was good in that selfhood, 
and worthy of his love, was of the Lord alone. 

This was a new view of the subject, by means of 
new light ; and they yielded to it. Thus the human 
selfhood was vivified. The rib, or the cold and dead 
idea of man's own goodness, was thereby taken away 
from his mind. Man now saw that he was not good 
in, and of, himself ; and seeing this, and looking to the 
Lord, the rib, or dead selfhood, was removed, and God's 
supreme goodness was acknowledged and took its place. 
Man was now enabled to see himself as finite and dis- 
tinct from the Lord, and also to love himself for the 
goods and truths w^hich were in him from the Lord, 
and not for his own wisdom and righteousness. Man 
had now, what we call, a vivified, living or spiritual 
selfhood. This was called flesh, or goodness, in the 
place of the rib, or lifeless and cold selfhood, which was 
taken away. This vivified selfhood is the Eve, the 



204 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 

Bride or the Churchy in our will^ which the truth in 
our Adam, or our understanding, is to love and em- 
brace. And it is said of them, ^' What God hath 
joined together let no man put asunder/' 

And here we have the true scripture symbol of the 
conjugial relation between a man and his wife. It is 
the same as the relation between the Lord and His 
Church or Truth and Good : or between love in the 
proprium of man, and the Lord, as the Divine truth, 
in the understanding. The world is now in great dark- 
ness upon this very subject — the human proprium. It 
is, indeed, in deep sleep, and can only be aroused as the 
Lord takes from its side a rib, and makes thereof a 
woman — a good affection — and brings it to the dark- 
ened understanding, and they embrace each other. 

And this cold, dead bone is being taken away, and 
the warm living flesh given in its place, whenever men 
faithfully resist temptations and keep God's laws, as of 
themselves, with the acknowledgment that the will, the 
understanding, and the power to do so are of the Lord 
alone. Thus no person is regenerated without God's 
taking from his side, or from his affections, the cold 
rib of his selfhood and putting in the place thereof, 
warm and generous love to God and the neighbor ; and 
thus forming a union of goodness and truth in his soul 
whereby goodness in his heart is the church wedded to 
the Lord as the Truth. Thus, as in all sacred scrip- 
ture, we are here taught the way of salvation. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE CORRESPONDENCE OF WATER. 

" His voice as tlie sound of many waters." (Rev. i. 15.) 

We speak this evening upon the spiritual significa- 
tion of water. 

Water constitutes one of the leading features of the 
Holy Word. This is because it denotes one of the prin- 
cipal elements either of the human or of the Divine 
Mind. It also constitutes one of the leading features 
and principal elements of the natural world. It sig- 
nifies truth. And as water is essential to the produc- 
tion and growth of natural things^ so truth is essential 
to the production and growth of mental things. Water, 
therefore, in every instance in which it is mentioned in 
the Holy Word, signifies either truth or falsity. And, 
by the sense in which it is used, it is at once known 
which way it is to be understood. 

Now, because it signifies truth, it is used as an in- 
troduction into the church, by baptism. For it is truth 
which introduces a j)erson into the church. Truths, in 
the mind, show us our evils, and teach us how to put 
them away. And, as we repent of our evils, resist 



206 WATER. 

temptations and obey the Lord^ through the light and 
power of the truth^ we are cleansed from our evils 
and filled with goods and truths. Baptism by water 
denotes this cleansing by the truths. It is^ therefore^ a 
beautiful and appropriate ordinance of the churchy and 
stands as the great index^ pointing the way to heaven 
by regeneration. Water performs the same use to the 
body, in cleansing it, and quenching its thirst, and in 
nourishing and sustaining it, as the truth does to the 
soul : for the correspondence is perfect. 

The very first expression of the operation of God's 
Spirit, in the Holy Word, is upon the face of the waters. 
This is made at the commencement of the Divine Word; 
or, at the beginning of the spiritual creation of the human 
mind. '^ And the Spirit of God moved upon the face 
of the waters.'' The face denotes the affections ; and 
the waters, truths. The first effort of the Spirit, after 
there is light, is, to incline us to have an affection for 
that lio-ht or truth. 

Again, water is expressed, as being connected, not 
only with the first movings of the Spirit mentioned in, 
the Holy Word, but also in the very last exhortation 
of the Lord to man, in this divine Book. He there 
says, ^' And the Spirit and the bride say. Come. And 
let him that heareth say. Come. And let him that is 
athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the 
water of life freely.'*' 

And not only in the first and the last parts, is water 
used, but also throughout the whole Word. Wells, 
and rivers, and streams, and rains, and seas, and floods 
are, all the way, brought to notice. One who has never 



WATER. 207 

examined the Divine Word as to the use made of wells 
of water ; the finding, digging, moving, and destroying 
of wells, as a means of spiritual instruction, would be 
forcibly struck with a view of that feature of the Sacred 
Scriptures. 

In 2 King's we read that the Moabites cast stones 
on all the good ground, stopped all the wells, and 
felled all the good trees. Now, if we turn our thoughts 
from natural things to spiritual, and lay the scene in 
our own mind, we shall see at a glance, by correspon- 
dence, that the Moabites are evil principles or spirits ; 
that the stones they cast on all the good ground are 
hard falsities cast on the ground of the mind ; that the 
wells, stopped, are the sources of truth from the Word 
hidden from the mind ; and that the good trees, felled, 
are all the noble and lofty principles of the soul de- 
stroyed. What an impressive lesson the Lord here 
teaches us ! That evils, indulged, will fill our hearts 
with falsities, close them against the truths of the 
Word, and destroy the highest and best principles of 
the soul. 

Again, it is recorded in Genesis, that Hagar was sent 
away from Abraham's house with her child ; that she 
left the lad under a shrub to die for the want of 
water, and sat down to weep ; and that Grod opened 
her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and she gave the 
Lad to drink. Now, what eyes did the Lord open .^ 
Was it only the natural eyes ? Hagar was not blind 
in those eyes. Let us then look into our own minds for 
the illustration : for the Lord would teach us spiritual 
things. The instruction is given expressly for the present 



208 WATER. 

age. Hagar denotes the female element of the mind 
or our affections, and the chiW, a new principle or rule 
of life from the Lord, which our affections love ; and 
Abraham represents the Lord. And now, if we let 
these affections go away from Abraham's, or the heavenly- 
Father's, house with the child or new principle, and not 
continue to look to the Lord for wisdom to feed it, the 
child will surely die of thirst, or for the want of the 
water of life. But if, in our wanderings, we feel its 
need of truths, and fear its death, and set ourselves 
down to weep and repent of our waywardness, the Lord 
will open our understandings to the divine truth, and 
we shall see a well of water springing up from the Holy 
Word, and we shall give the child to drink. 

Again, between Abraham and Abimelech, king of 
Gerar, there was a falling out ; because Abraham had 
digged a well, and Abimelech's servants had taken it 
away ; that is, had taken the credit of digging it. And 
Abraham and Abimelech entered into a covenant, 
which was this : Abraham took seven ewe lambs and 
said to Abimelech, '^ These ewe lambs shalt thou take, 
that they may be witness unto me, that I have digged 
this well/' Now, what can this mean ? "Why has our 
heavenly Father recorded such a narrative ? And why 
is he now giving it to all the world in all languages ? 
It must be because it contains food for the souls of 
men. And if we know that the things here mentioned 
denote things of the mind, and will look within our- 
selves for them, we shall then see their use and their 
beauty. Abraham, who is often called father Abraham, 
represents the Lord as Divine Good. He denotes a 



WATER. 209 

principle of love and mercy in our hearts. While 
Abimelechj king of Gerar, signifies something of the 
head — the doctrines of faith : Kings always relate to 
truths. 

Now^ the Bible talks about wells .of water springing 
up, in the human soul, unto everlasting life. Such 
wells are always digged by repentance, faith, and obe- 
dience. But in order to have this repentance, faith 
and obedience genuine, so as to produce the well of 
living water, father Abraham must be there — ^love to 
God and the neighbor must be in the work as its mo- 
tive power or spring of action. Abraham, the heavenly 
father principle, or Divine Good, digs the well, through 
the use of, the other principles as means of operation. 
But after the well has been digged, and we are enjoy- 
ing and giving forth its precious waters, we may care- 
lessly fall into a cold and dark state of mind. And 
then, while we are reasoning upon the subject in the 
selfish light of our own intelligence, we may come to the 
false conclusion that it was by the scientific principles 
of our own judgment and faith, that the well was 
digged ; that it was Abimelech's servants, or the sub- 
jects of our faith, that digged the well, or gave us the 
truths and doctrines. Thus the merit is all taken away 
from Abraham, or from the mercy and goodness of God ; 
and we are falling into a dead state of mind ; giving 
U}) the true religion of the heart, and resting in the 
coldness of the head alone. Our heavenly Father sees 
where we are going, and arouses us to a state of our 
condition and danger. He calls a meeting of Abraham 
and Abimelech, or of the heart and the head; that we 



210 WATER. 

may reflect, and understand where the truths, or waters, 
and doctrines of our souls come from : whether from 
wisdom or from love. And, in this examination, he 
enables us to see that it is goodness that gives forth the 
truth ; that Abraham digs the well. And now he in- 
stitutes a covenant between Abraham and Abimelech, 
or between goodness and truth in us ; or between our 
understanding and our will. In this covenant, Abra- 
ham gives to Abimelech seven ewe lambs to be kept as 
a witness that Abraham digged the well, or that good- 
ness brings forth the truth. 

Now, why should seven ewe lambs bo given as this 
witness ? How could they be a witness that Abraham 
digged a natural well ? It is because ewe lambs de- 
note innocence of the affections, and seven denotes pu- 
rity or holiness. Therefore, for Abimelech to receive 
from Abraham seven ewe lambs, is, spiritually speaking, 
for the understanding to become convinced, by the 
truth, that the Divine Good or Father principle is in- 
nocent and holy, and that this Divine Good actually 
brings forth, in us, the truth of the "Word, or digs the 
well. Thus Abraham, or the goodness of God in the 
will, is to give to Abimelech, or faith in the under- 
standing, a belief in innocence and purity : this belief 
will cause a union or covenant between goodness and 
truth in our souls. And we can readily see that so long 
as Abimelech, or our faith of the head, understands that 
all purity and innocence are from Abraham, or the 
Heavenly Father's goodness^ we shall of course believe 
that all truths and doctrines which cleanse the soul, 
and bring purity and innocence, must also flow from 



WATER. 211 

God's goodness and mercy — that Abraham truly digs 
the well^ or supplies the water. 

Again, the Lord commanded Moses to gather the 
people together at the well Beer ; and the Lord God 
gave them water. Then Israel sang this song, '^ Spring 
up, well, answer ye out of it ; the well, the princes 
digged it, the nobles of the peoj)le digged it, by the di- 
rection of the Lawgiver, with their staves."' Now, in 
the letter alone, we here see nothing practical. It is 
the same to us as any other history of past events. But 
if we know that Moses means the Divine Law, and the 
well Beer means true doctrines, we can see that the 
Lord is now commanding us, by Moses, to gather our- 
selves together, at the well Beer ; or to come to the in- 
finite Well, the great fountain of the heavenly doctrines ; 
and the Lord will there give us water, and we shall 
sing, with Israel, Spring up, well, in our souls ; and 
we shall joyfully answer each other out of this well, 
speaking the truth from the heart. And if we further 
know that princes mean high and noble principles of 
the mind, and staves, the power of truth from good- 
ness, we, too, shall rejoice that the princes digged the 
well in our souls with their staves. For we shall see 
that it was by the great truths of the Word, through 
the power of the Lord from goodness, that our hearts 
became contrite by repentance, and the well of salva- 
tion was opened in our soul. And then, if we look a 
little deeper into the subject, we shall see, at the start- 
ing point, that it is the Father's love, through the 
princes and the staves, that does the work. Abraham 
really digs the well. And we give to God the glory. 



212 WATER. 

Again, it is declared, in the Word, that the Philis- 
tines stopped up all the wells which Abraham's ser- 
vants digged. Now, as Abraham denotes goodness, so 
Abraham's servants are those obedient affections of the 
soul which love goodness, and love to obey its dictates. 
Through the exercise of these affections the Lord opens 
in our hearts the wellsprings of life. Philistines de- 
note false principles of the mind which reason against 
acts of charity and good works as essential to salva- 
tion ; which place the entire conditions of pardon and 
heavenly bliss in external wisdom, in faith in God, in 
worldly science and knowledge. Wells of salvation are 
doctrines and truths flowing from the heart. When 
we love the truths of the Word they become our own ; 
and they are a fountain flowing out from the heart in 
words of wisdom and acts of kindness. But if we yield 
to the selfish falsities of the Philistine principles, and 
rely upon our own faith and knowledge, regardless of 
the duties of charity, these Philistines will surely stop 
up the wells of the soul which Abraham's servants have 
digged. Every good affection and kind desire will be- 
come blunted and the streams of mercy and truth will 
cease to flow. 

But it is recorded that Isaac digged again the wells 
which they had digged in the days of Abraham his 
father : for the Philistines had stopped them after the 
death of Abraham. Here we are taught that Abra- 
ham, or the good principles of the soul, die as they 
cease 4o send forth their streams of truth and love, or 
as the Philistines or false principles, in us, become pre- 
dominant and stop the wells : but that, even then 



WATER. 213 

they can be opened again. Isaac can open them. ^^ Isaac 
digged again the wells which the Philistines had stop- 
ped.'' Isaac here signijies spiritual love ; or love to the 
Lord, by means of the spiritual. truths of the Word : 
and how many wells^ of doctrine and truth^ are noAv 
being opened by the love which men feel for the Lord^ 
through the spiritual sense of the Word. This love is 
the Isaac of the soul, the son of Abraham or of goodness. 
And if we yield to the spiritual truths of the Word^ in 
humble obedience, Isaac will open, afresh, th^ well- 
springs of life ; and we shall heartily bless the Lord at 
this His second coming, by a life of mercy and truth. 

It is recorded that Isaac's servants digged, even m 
the valley, and found a well. Here we are taught the 
comforting truth, that, even in the low, selfish hearts 
or states of men denoted by a valley, when the spir- 
itual sense of the Word comes, convincing the natural 
understanding of its truth, Isaac's servants, or the af- 
fections we form for that truth, by obedience, will open 
in our hearts a desire to speak the truth, and to love 
and do it, which is a well. Thus the low, selfish val- 
ley will become humble and meek, when Isaac's ser- 
vants dig the well ; and the water will flow. 

Again, it is written that Moses came to Elim where 
were twelve wells and seventy palm-trees. In the lit- 
eral sense, we see no essential use to men's souls, by this 
record. But the spiritual sense is highly beautiful and 
instructive. The number 12 is the- multiple of 3. 
Three includes everything spiritual — love, wisdom and 
power. 12 wells signify all the doctrines and truths of 
the Word. For this reason there were twelve apos- 



214 WATER. 

tles^ twelve tribes of Israel^ twelve foundations of tlie 
Temple, twelve stones in Aaron's breastplate, twelve 
gates, and twelve angels. Palm-trees denote the spir- 
itual goods of the Word. 70 is the common multiple 
of 7 and 10. Ten denotes all we have. It is the ter- 
mination of the man. He has ten fingers and ten toes. 
We count by tens. Seven is a holy number, denoting 
purity, fulness and rest. The seventh day signifies 
a state of holiness and rest. Seventy palm-trees, there- 
fore, denote the holiness and fulness of the spiritual 
goods of the Word. Places in the Word, always de- 
note states of the mind. Elim denotes a state of mind 
in the illustration and affection of the Word. 

Now, with these significations, we may learn a heav- 
enly lesson, by Moses coming to Elim, where were 
twelve wells and seventy palm-trees. As all places de- 
note states of mind, so going to a place always means 
coming into a certain state of mind. Moses means the 
Divine Law— the truths of the commandments. We 
are therefore taught by this scripture, that the Divine 
Law can so come into the soul as to fill it with the il- 
lustration, the love, and the enjoyment of all goods and 
truths. And the practical instruction is this : — If we 
faithfully and affectionately keep the divine command- 
ments, Moses, or the law of truth and love, will como 
into the Elim, or the rational plane of our mind, and 
will fill it with illustration and affection for seeing and 
enjoying the twelve wells and seventy palm-trees of the 
Holy Word ; or, all the goods and truths which the 
soul needs or can desire. 

Now, we find, in reading the divine narrative, that 



WATER. 215 

there was a great deal of strife and contention among 
men about wells. Now^ why should so much be said 
about wells ? How different is Grod's history from 
man's ! In Grod's book^ wells are a leading feature : in 
man's they are never noticed. You may read a whole 
history of a man or a country now^ and not find a well 
mentioned. It is because wells mean the doctrines and 
truths of the Word^ that they are so often mentioned. 
It is about truths and doctrines^ therefore^ and not 
wellS; that the Lord would teach us by these Scrip- 
tures. 

N0W5 Isaiah tells us what the true wells of the Holy 
Word are when he says, ^' With joy shall they draw 
water out of the wells of salvation.'' These wells are 
hearts which love truth, and love to speak it. The 
wise man Solomon says, '^ The words of man's mouth 
are deep waters" — that ^' the wellspring of wisdom is a 
flowing brook." Peter, speaking of persons who had 
forsaken the right way, says. They are icells without 
water. That is, minds without truth. 

Kivers also hold a prominent position in the Holy 
Word. David says of the good, '' They shall drink of 
the river of thy pleasure." He says, " There is a river, 
the streams whereof shall make glad the city of our 
God." That is, the truths of the Word shall make the 
heart glad in the heavenly doctrines— the Holy City. 
Again, he says, '' The Lord enricheth the earth with 
the river of God." That is, fiUeth the mental earth 
with the truths of the Word. 

The Lord showed John a pure river of water of 



216 WATER. 

life ; which was spiritual truth flowing from God's 
love. 

Moses smote all the rivers of Egypt, and they be- 
came blood. All the rivers, ponds and pools, and all 
the waters in vessels — all the water in Egypt became 
blood ! Does any one suppose that this was a literal 
fact ? What certain death it would have been to 
Moses and all the people to be destitute of water. And 
how could Moses turn all the water into blood ? But 
in the light of correspondences all is clear. Moses 
stands for the divine Law which he proclaimed. Blood, 
which is called the life of the body, denotes, in a good 
sense, the true life of the soul, or spiritual truth. But, 
in a bad sense, blood denotes evil life, or falsity, which 
is the death of the soul. Egypt here means the natural 
mind ; and its rivers and waters, the falsities of that 
mind. 

Now when the truth of the Law falls with power 
upon these falsities, they are as blood. That is, when 
the light of the divine commandments shines clearly 
into the depraved natural mind, its falsities are seen to 
be carnal life — dead blood. And thus it is that when 
Moses smites the waters of Egypt they become blood. 

Again, it is said of the Lord, ^^ He turneth rivers into 
a wilderness."' Now falsities, which rivers here denote, 
will make a wilderness of the mind. And Grod is said to 
turn them into-a wilderness when, by the light of truth, 
He enables us to see the wilderness state of mind which 
they have produced. 

The Lord says, in Isaiah, ^- A man shall be as rivers 
of water in a dry place.'' A true man is in the image 



WATER. 217 

and likeness of his God : and the truth will go forth 
from him to refresh the thirsty minds around him, like 
rivers of water in a dry place. 

Again, it is said, through Isaiah, '' The glorious 
Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and 
streams ; for the Lord is our Lawgiver/' Yes^ be- 
cause He is our Lawgiver He will, when we admit Him 
into our hearts, become in us a place of broad rivers 
and streams. For His law will be there, sending forth 
its streams of truth to the world around us. 

The Lord says, through Ezekiel, He will bring a 
sword upon the rivers and destroy their high places. 
Here the sword is tlje divine truth. The Lord brings 
it upon the rivers of falsehood : and He destroys there- 
by the high places in our mind ; or our love of falsities. 

The Lord again says, in Ezekiel, He is against the 
land of Egypt, and against her rivers. By the land 
of Egypt is here meant the evils of the external man ; 
and, by her rivers, his falsities. And the Lord is always 
against evils and falsities. 

In Ezekiel, the Lord says of Pharoah, '^ Thou camest 
forth with thy rivers, and troublest the waters with thy 
feet, and fouledst their rivers.'' Pharaoh had become 
a bad man. His rivers of knowledge had become fouled 
with falsities. His feet, or lowest natural principles, 
troubled the waters of truth. It is said that the deep 
set him up on high with her rivers. That is, he was 
proud of his knowledge. 

In Joel, it is said, ^^ The beasts of the field cry unto 
the Lord, for the rivers of water are dried up. What 
do the beasts of the field know of the Lord ? It is the 

10 



218 WATER. 

affections of men mourning over the want of truth in 
the world. And well they may mourn, for how sadly 
are the rivers of water dried up in the hearts of men ! 

Again, it is ^vi'itten in Joel, that the rivers of Judah 
shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth 
of the house of the Lord : where Judah means the 
church, and her rivers, the -truths of the Word. 

Again, ^^ The Lord rebuketh the sea, and maketh it 
dry, and dryeth up the rivers." This, we all know, the 
Lord does not do, naturally. But He does rebuke and 
make dry the sea of men's false knowledge, and dries 
up the rivers of their deceit, whenever they yield to 
His spirit. 

Now, in the passages I have cited from the Word, 
the necessity of a spiritual sense is readily seen. And 
so in those I am about to quote, and which I have not 
time to explain, you will see that there must be a spir- 
itual sense : and many of you will understand it. 

^^ When the poor and needy seek water, and there is 
none, I the Loed will hear them : I will open rivers in 
high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys : 
I Vvdll make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry 
land springs of water.'' Again, ^^ I will pour water 
upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry 
ground : I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my 
blessing upon thine offspring.'' The Lord says of the 
church, '' I entered into covenant with thee, and thou 
becamest mine, and I washed thee with water, and 
anointed thee with oil" — or cleansed thee with truth, 
and filled thee with love. 

Again, He says of the church, ^^ I will sprinkle clean 



WATER, 219 

water upon thee^ and thou sliall be clean from all thine 
idols/' ^^ Except a man be born of water and of the 
spirit^ he cannot enter into the kingdom of God/' 
^^ The serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood 
after the woman/' 

That waters sometimes mean falses, we might know 
from what David says^ when he prays^ '^ Send thine 
hand from above ; rid me, and deliver me out of great 
waterS; from the hand of strange children^ whose mouth 
sj)eaketh vanity^ and their right hand is a right hand . 
of falsehood/' Thus David says^ ^^ Save me, Lord, 
for the waters have come into my soul. I am come 
into deep waters where floods overflow me. Let not 
the floods overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me 
up/' Isaiah says, '^ I have digged and drunk water ; 
and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the 
rivers of besieged places. 

But we need not pursue the investigation further. 
It must be obvious to all that there is a spiritual sig- 
nification to water. And that when used in a good 
sense it means truth ; and in a bad sense falsity. We 
have mentioned but few of the many passages where 
water is used. 

There is much said, in the "Word, of the sea, which 
means general knowledge stored up in the memory. It 
may be true, or false, or mixed. In Jeremiah, the 
Lord says of the church, ^' I will dry up her sea/' 
Now, what can the sea of the church be, which the 
Lord can wish to dry up, but her false knowledge ? 
John says of the coming of the New J erusalem, ^^ And 
I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for the first 



220 WATER. 

heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and there 
was no more sea/' All the false doctrines and knowl- 
edges of the natural man^ which form the sea of the 
external memory, are driven away when the spiritual 
light of the Word enters, creating a new heaven and a 
new earth. The knowledge now is spiritual. The true 
water is made wine — the sea is gone. The Lord says, 
in Mark, " Ye compass sea and land to make oneiDrose- 
lyte. Here it is obvious that by sea and land is meant 
the whole mind of man — ^knowledge and will. 

How beautifully true and expressive, then, is our 
text ! ^^ His voice as the sound of many waters." 
His voice is divine truth ; all truths, everywhere, 
spiritual and natural : the truths of His Word : the 
truths of His works : truths of infinite varieties. He 
speaks in everything. His voice is everywhere. Every 
truth spoken by man is God's voice. Think of the 
universal speech of God, wherever the truth is uttered, 
throughout the vast universe, in all its infinite varie- 
ties ; it is God's voice. Indeed, His voice is as the 
sound of many waters. May we all learn to hear this 
voice, so that we can feel the precious presence of our 
heavenly Father, wherever we are : in city or country : 
in mountain or valley : in sunshine or storm : on sea 
or land — whether contemplating His Word or His 
Works ; may the still small voice of His Holy Spirit 
have our first affections and thoughts, now and forever ; 
for '' His voice [is] as the sound of many waters.'' 
'^ And whosoever will, let him take the water of life 
freely,'^ 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

THE MOSAIC DELUGE. 

. " And he sent forth, a dove from him, to see if the waters were 
abated from off the face of the ground ; but the dove found no 
rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the 
ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth." ( Gen, 
Tiii. 8, 9.) 

We have seen^ by our lectures^ that man was the 
crowning object of the creation, being the connecting 
link between the earth and the Creator ; and contain- 
ing within him the sum total of the various qualities 
of the living things of the earth — they being, individ- 
ually, but component parts of their common lord and 
sovereign — the human race. We have also seen that 
man is really and truly man only by means of the 
church within him ; or, in other words, by means of 
the order and harmony of the various parts and princi- 
ples of his nature. 

From these facts^ we have seen that the creation of 
man, as a spiritual being, is described in allegory, in 
the first chapter of Genesis, by a composed history of 
the supposed creation of the world, including the ani- 
mals and birds, and other living things. And so, by 



222 THE DELUGE. 

the same law of analogy^ the destruction of man, as a 
spiritual being, in the image and likeness of his God, 
may be analogically described by a composed history of 
the suj^posed destruction of these living things by a 
flood. And, again, the reestablishment of this order 
and life may also be described by a composed narrative 
of supposed events, in which the living creatures of the 
earth are represented as brought together into an ark, 
and there fed and protected against destruction by a 
flood. And by thus looking at this history of the 
deluge, in the light of correspondence, as applied to the 
human mind and its principles, all is rational, beauti- 
ful and instructive. 

But in trying to view it, literally, as a natural his- 
tory, it is strange, incomprehensible and at variance 
with the natural laws. It is incomprehensible because 
it appears contradictory, unreasonable and inexplicable 
in itself. In the first place it declares that it rained 
'^ 40 days and 40 nights,'' and that the '^ flood was 40 
days upon the earth ;'' which is a plain indication that 
the deluge then ceased to prevail. It next avers that 
the waters continued to rise for 150 days, which is 110 
days after it had done raining, and longer than it is 
affirmed that the flood was upon the earth. We are 
next told, that, at the end of 150 days, the ark rested 
on Ararat. This resting of the ark, being just at the 
time when the water had done rising, would show that 
the water rose just high enough to set the ark upon the 
mountain and no more. And, from this time, we are 
told that the waters returned from off" the earth con- 
tinually ; and yet, that it was not until 73 days after 



THE DELUGE. 223 

the ark had rested, that the tops of the mountains were 
seen. This would not only make Ararat the highest 
mountain of the earth, but even so much higher than 
the rest that the waters had to fall continually for 73 
days in order to bring other mountains in sight. We 
are next told that on the fortieth day, after the tops of 
the mountains were seen, Noah sent forth a dove to see 
if the waters had abated. This is certainly a very 
singular stej) for Noah to take at this time. Had he 
forgotten that the ark had been resting on dry land for 
months, and that the mountains had been in sight for 
forty days ? But, what is more remarkable still, ^^ The 
dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, for the waters 
were on the face of the whole earth." 

These are strange discrepancies. By the literal sense 
alone they cannot be reconciled. Nobody has success- 
fully attempted it. The commentators wisely pass them 
by in silence. 

So it appears from the letter, that Noah and his 
family, with this mass of living creatures, were confined 
in this ark for one year and ten days. Here they were 
in this water-tight vessel with only one window, which 
was but eighteen inches square, and that in the top of 
the ark — a vessel three stories high, pitched wdthin and 
without with pitch, with only one door and that closed 
by the Lord. There is no possible way to account for 
their existence but by one continued and unaccountable 
miracle. Such a miracle would be different from all 
others in the Word ; for it is contrary to the laws of 
life and of order. Such a miracle God never performs : 
for miracles, when seen by correspondence, are found to 



224 THE DELUGE. 

be facilities of life in perfect harmony with all the divine 
laws. 

And, by what known law could these creatures have 
been put into the ark from all the climates and coun- 
tries of the world : some of them 12,000 miles off, hav- 
ing to pass over oceans, mountains and rivers ? I know 
it is said that God could speak the word and they 
would be there. But we should remember that God 
works by means. Why does he not speak the word 
and make all people good and happy ? For '' He 
would have all men to be saved.'^ 

The narrative says, ^^ Fifteen cubits upward did the 
waters prevail, and the mountains were covered.'" If 
this is all that the waters rose, the mountains were very 
low in those days. But the previous verse speaks of 
the hills being covered : and if this verse means that 
the waters rose fifteen cubits above the tops of the hills, 
and the mountains were covered, then the difference be- 
tween the height of a mountain and that of a hill is 
only 221 feet. But it is not to show discrepancies in 
the letter that we would address you. The letter is all 
precisely right ; all in divine order ; there are no con- 
tradictions there, when understood. We mention these 
things to turn your thoughts to something higher, and 
to assure you that he who puts his trust in the living 
God, may have his soul rejoiced and strengthened by 
coming to the spiritual sense ; where he will sec the 
Holy Word rising above the cavils of the skeptic and 
the shafts of infidelity ; and commending itself, in 
every page and verse, to the sober reason with which 
the wisdom of his God has endowed him. 



THE DELUGE. 225 

Let US then^ come to that spiritual sense and see 
what our heavenly Father has for us in this wonderful 
history : for it is the human mind that is treated of. 
By the flood is meant falsehoods inundating the mental 
earthy and destroying its goods and truths ; by the ark 
is meant^ the true doctrines and rules of life from the 
Holy Word ; by the animals, birds and other living 
creatures brought into the ark are meant the various 
affections, thoughts and propensities of the mind, 
brought under the influence of the doctrines of the 
Word. Thus we may see, by this history, how the 
kingdom of heaven may be destroyed in man, by in- 
dulging in falsities, until every living creature, or good 
spiritual affection and thought are gone ; and we may 
also see how we may be raised above all falses and rest 
upon the mountain of love to Grod and the neighbor, 
having every thought and affection restored to order by 
the rules of life denoted by the ark. 

Now, destructions of all spirituality, in the human 
mind, are often described in the Word by floods of 
water ; as in the following j)rophecy of Jeremiah 
xlvii. 2, '^ Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and 
shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the 
land, and all that is therein ; the city, and them 
that dwell therein.'' Here the north, whence the wa- 
ters come, is a dark and ignorant state of the mind, 
which gives forth falses : the land which is overflowed, 
is the win or good ground of the heart : the city which 
is destroyed, is true doctrines : and they that dwell 
therein, are all the good principles of the mind. So 
here we have another flood, of a somewhat similar char- 



226 THE DELUGE. 

acter to that in Genesis ; in which the land is over- 
flowed and the inhabitants destroyed. We all know 
that this a prophecy of the false state of the Jewish 
churchy and that it has not taken place physically^ by 
inundating their bodies ; but that it has occurred spir- 
itually by their falsities. 

Again^ the Lord says^ ^^ Who is this that cometh 
up as a flood^ whose waters are moved as the rivers ? 
Egypt riseth up as a flood^ and his waters are moved 
like the rivers^ and he saith^ I will go up^ and will 
cover the earth : I will destroy the city and them that 
dwell therein.'' (Jer. xlvi. 7^ 8.) Here Egypt is the 
natural mind in its falsities ; and another just such a 
flood is described^ covering the earth and destroying 
the inhabitants. And yet it was all mental ; no such 
flood has ever taken place on the earth. 

Again^ in Ezekiel^ prophesying of the church and its 
doctrines^ the Lord says^ '' Thus saith the Lord Jeho- 
vah^ When I shall make thee a desolate city^ as the 
cities that are not inhabited ; when I shall bring up 
the deep upon thee^ and great waters shall overflow 
thee ; when I shall bring thee down with them that 
descend into the pit with the people of olden time.'' 
(Ezek. xxvi. 19. 20.) Here is another similar flood ; 
the city denoting the doctrines of the churchy and the 
people the members ; the waters^ falsehoods. And 
here the Lord says they shall be destroyed with the 
people of olden time — alluding to the Mosaic deluge. 
And as the Jewish church was not destroyed by a phys- 
ical flood^ and yet shared the same fate of the antedi- 
luvianSj so they must both have been destroyed by men- 



THE DELUGE. 227 

tal floods. And so Daniel, when predicting the rejec- 
tion of Christ and the destruction of the city and 
sanctuary says, '^ The end thereof shall be with a 
flood/' The Jews were really immersed in falsehoods 
and evils. Their spiritual qualities were destroyed by 
a flood. 

And the Lord, in prophetically treating of those who 
daub with untempered mortar in building the temple 
of the mind, says, '' There shall be an overflowing 
shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury, 
to consume it, and I will break down the wall thereof ]" 
which shows that God will suff'er the works of all such 
to be destroyed by a storm of falses of their own crea- 
ting ; for it should be known that God is often said, in 
Scripture, to do what He only permits to be done. 
This is the case with regard to all the evils which He is 
said to bring upon mankind. He is the Creator and 
Preserver, not a destroyer. Man, by the abuse of his 
freedom, brings all the evils upon himself. So God 
is said to cause it to rain and to bring the flood upon 
the earth. And yet, it is man that brings the flood of 
falses through the power which God gives him, and 
which he might use to a better purpose. For by this 
same power man could look to the Lord, in his freedom, 
and avoid the curse if he pleased. 

The Lord, through Isaiah, speaking of the churchy 
says, '^ This people refuseththe waters of Shiloah that 
go softly; therefore, the Lord bringeth up upon them the 
waters of the river, strong and many, and he shall come 
up over all his channels, and go over all his banks.'' 
(Is. viii. 6, 7.) Here, the waters of Shiloah which go 



228 THE DELUGE. 

softly, are the gentle trutlis of the Lord speaking in the 
still small voice. But when we refuse these kind prompt- 
ings of the Holy Spirit, we bring upon ourselves the 
waters of the river, strong and many. Falses, like a 
torrent, will sweep in upon us, if we refuse to yield to 
the gentle admonitions of Jesus. 

David says, '^ Save me, God, for the waters have 
come into my soul.'" Now, natural waters cannot touch 
our souls. Again he says, '' I am come into deep 
waters, where floods overflow me.'' ^'Let not the 
waterfloods overflow me ; neither let the deep swallow 
me up.'' 

But we need make no more q[uotations from the 
Word. It must be obvious that, throughout the Sacred 
Scriptures, falses destroying spiritual life, are repre- 
sented by floods of water destroying man. And as 
waters are used all through the prophets and Psalms to 
signify truths or falses instead of waters, we must look 
for the same in Genesis. For there must be a uniform 
rule for understanding God's language. He being the 
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever ; so, also, must be 
His language. And whether He speaks from the book 
of Nature or that of Eevelation : whether in Hebrew or 
Greek : whether by Moses, the patriarchs, the proph- 
ets, the apostles, or John on Patmos, His language 
is ever and unquestionably the same ; and, like all His 
works, it is filled with influent principles of spirit and 
life. And, as the spirit and life of His language is as 
distinct from the mere letter as cause is from effect, or 
the sound of man's words from the feelings that utter 
them, they therefore cannot be clearly seen or appreci- 



THE DELUGE. ' 229 

ated, but by correspondences. But, blessed be the 
Lord, we are no longer left in darkness or doubt on this 
subject ; but have a universal rule by which the glori- 
ous Word may be opened and explained, from Genesis 
to Kevelation. 

One great point to be ^constantly borne in mind, in 
the contemplation of the subject of the flood, is, that 
man is man by means of order, or the image of God 
within him : that the image of God in man, and the 
church in him, and the love of God and the neighbor, 
mean the same thing : that when a man loses the im- 
age of his Maker, that man is said to be dead, or the 
church in him, consummated : and in this death of 
the man, the orderly state of his affections and thoughts 
is destroyed ; which would be described, in divine lan- 
guage, by the destruction of animals and birds. Man 
is, everywhere in the Word, said to be destroyed by 
sin — made dead. That is, he loses that which makes 
him truly a man. So were the antediluvians destroyed 
by sin — swept from the face of the earth, or true pale 
of the church, by falsehoods. 

When man is created anew, or regenerated, all the 
principles of his thoughts and affections become new, 
which is represented by the creation of birds and ani- 
mals, &c. The lion, the lamb, the leopard, the kid, 
the cow, the bear, the serpent, the dove, the raven, &c., 
all are new, all in order and harmony. The whole 
mental earth, the microcosm, with all its teeming in- 
habitants, is created anew. In this way the lion lies 
down with the lamb, and the leopard with the kid ; 
the cow and the bear feed together, and a little child 



230 THE DELUGE. 

leads them. In this way God enters into covenant 
with the beasts of the field^ and the creeping things of 
the earth. In this way everything that has breath 
praises the Lord. In this way the mountains are 
moved^ and the hills skip lil^e young sheep, and the 
valleys laugh and sing. In this way the church, the 
kingdom of heaven, is formed by bringing all the ani- 
mals, birds and creeping things into the ark ; or all the 
principles of the soul into order. 

Let us now look at this narrative of the flood, in the 
light of analogy, and see if we can reconcile its appa- 
rent contradictions and impossibilities. The human 
race was then in a state of gl-eat spiritual darkness, 
brought on by gradually giving up the truths of the 
understanding to the embrace of the evils of the will. 

The events which immediately preceded the flood, 
and which finally immersed the race in falsities, are de- 
clared, in the history, to be these : — ^^ The sons of God 
saw the daughters of men that they were fair ; and 
they took them wives of all which they chose.'' This 
can only be understood spiritually. Truths are the 
male element of the mind, and goods, t}iQ female ele- 
ment. By sons of God are meant truths in the mind. 
Every new truth which we receive and love, is really 
conceived and born in the mind from the word of wis- 
dom sown in the heart. It is a son of God. The Son 
of God is all Truth : this Truth is the Christ. And 
so, by daughters of God are meant goods in the mind. 
Every good principle we have is a daughter of God, an 
element of the church, born of God's love in the soul. 
And had the sons of God taken the daughters of God, 



THE DELUGE. 231 

all would have been well ; for goods and truths are 
conjugial partners. But they took the daughters of 
men. By the daughters of men, are meant evils. 
Whatever comes from man's proprium is not good. 
God is the only source of good. He only can beget 
goods in us. He is the heavenly Father of all goods 
and truths ; — of all the children of God. And it is 
goods and truths, in us, begotten of God, and born in 
us, that make us His children. This is the new birth. 
But when the truths of our mind — the sons of God — 
look upon the evils of our heart — the daughters of men 
— and think them fair, and come down into their em- 
brace, then the truths become adulterated and falsified 
by the evils of the will ; and thus the whole mental 
earth may become immersed in falses and errors. 

This was the condition of the race, at the time of 
the flood. The Lord, in mercy, saw their condition, 
and, in order to save them, instituted a new order of 
things. For, under every emergency the Lord, in 
mercy, comes down to men with instructions adapted 
to their states. By Noah and his family are meant all 
those who were willing to receive and regard the Lord's 
instructions. By the ark is meant the church, or the 
new state of order which the Lord was establishing in 
their minds as to doctrines and life. The church is now 
often called the ark of safety. By the materials and 
dimensions of the ark are meant the character and 
quality of the doctrines and principles of the church. 

This may, at first, strike some as strange and incredi- 
ble. But this is a rule which holds good, by corre- 
spondence throughout the entire Word. Look at the 



232 THE DELUGE. 

materials and dimensions of the Holy City or New 
Church doctrines — a city 1^500 miles square, with gates, 
and walls, and foundations, and precious stones, and 
gold, and silver, and pearls, and glass, and trees, and 
rivers, and fruits, all coming down from God, out of 
heaven^ into the human mind. Is the description of 
the ark, as applied to the principles of the church or 
the mind, any more strange than this ? 

By the building of the ark is denoted the practising 
and establishing, by faithful and humble obedience, 
these new principles of life in the mind. For these 
doctrines and rules are various principles of goodness 
and truth, adapted to the states and wants of that age. 
And when these principles are received into the mind, 
that mind is the ark or the church. And though Noah 
and his family are said to be in the ark, yet the ark is 
also in them. Men are truly in the church only when 
the church or kingdom is in them. " I in thee and 
thou in me,'' saith the Lord. The three stories of the 
ark denote the three degrees of the mind — celestial, 
spiritual and natural. The window in the top, denotes 
the understanding for the reception of the truth of the 
Word, the true light of heaven. The door in the side, 
denotes the reception of the truth by hearing and obey- 
ing the commandments of the Word. The window 
above, denotes also interior or spiritual instruction ; 
and the door below, external or natural instruction. 
Seeing and hearing are the two most common entries 
into the mind ; and are represented by the window and 
door of the ark. Noah and his family denote all those 
who embraced the new doctrines. By their entering the 



THE DELUGE. 233 

ark is meant their coming under the power and influence 
of these doctrines and rules of life. By the animals 
entering the ark is meant the bringing all their various 
affections within the control of the new^ divine rules. 
The entering of the birds denotes the subjugation of all 
their thoughts to the divine laws. The clean beasts 
and cattle denote the good affections of the mind^ and 
the unclean^ the bad affections : for^ on entering the 
ark, or coming under the influence of the doctrines, they 
took with them all their mental principles good and 
bad. The good are said to go in by sevens, because 
seven is a holy number denoting purity. And as good 
affections enter, or as the affections become good, they 
come into a state of peace and rest signified by seven. 
The bringing of the creeping things into the ark, de- 
notes the control of all the low and grovelling things of 
the mind by the new divine truths. 

But, we are asked, why, if this is a mental ark and 
flood, is it said to rain forty days and forty nights ? 
This is because the number 40 denotes a full state of 
temptations. It denotes the whole time that their 
minds were becoming falsified. Forty is a number 
often used in the Word for that purpose. Days, or 
nights, or years denote states of mind : forty days, all 
the various states of light, and forty nights all the va- 
rious states or shades of darkness through which wo 
pass during the whole period of our temptations and 
trials. If we are resisting the temptations and shun- 
ning the evils, the states or nights of falsehood and 
ignorance are disappearing, and all is becoming bright 
with truth, tiU we end in eternal day. 



234 THE DELUGE. 

But if we are yielding to tlie temptations, the days 
or states of light are disappearing ; the Sun of Eight- 
eousness is setting ; the moon of faith wanes into dark- 
ness ; the stars of true knowledge grow dim and fade 
away, till the whole mind is inundated with ignorance 
and falsehood. Forty is a very peculiar number. It is 
the common multiple of 4 and 10. Ten denotes all we 
have. It is the termination of the hands and feet. It 
is the extent of our numbering. We count ten and be- 
gin again. Thus we reckon by tens and parts of tens. 
Four is also a peculiar number. It is the square of 
two. Two denotes the first two things of all exist- 
ences — love and wisdom, or goodness and truth. Four 
denotes the fulness of those principles. That fulness is 
embraced, by correspondence, in the four cardinal points 
— East, West, North and South ; in the four seasons 
of the year — Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter ; 
in the four periods of life — infancy, childhood, youth 
and manhood ; and in the four-square of the Holy 
City, which includes all the doctrines of the Holy 
Word. Forty, therefore, is that peculiar number 
"which, by correspondence, denotes the whole process of 
any thing. 

In the book of Numbers, the Lord says, ^^ Ye shall 
bear your iniquity forty years ; ye shall search the 
land forty days ;"' which means the whole time of their 
trials and troubles. The Psalms are a full prophecy 
of the states and trials through which the Lord Him- 
self passed on the earth. And, in them. He says of 
the Israelites, ^^ Forty years long was I grieved with 
this generation.'' Now what does He mean ? He did 



THE DELUGE. 235 

not live forty years on tlie earth. He means, by forty 
years, all the states of His temptations and trials. He 
assumed the depraved nature of the Israelites, and thus, 
forty years long He was grieved with this generation ; 
or until He glorified His humanity by putting that 
generation out of it, and filling it with glory from above. 
Thus Ezekiel was commanded to lie forty days upon 
his right side, to bear the iniquity of the house of Ju- 
dah ? Now, why this command .^ Why lie forty 
days ? Why on the right side .^ And why would he 
thus bear the iniquity of the house of Judah ? The 
right side has relation to goodness, the left side to. 
truth. To lie upon the right side is to rest or rely 
upon the goodness and mercy of God ; and forty days 
would be during all the states and trials of the house 
of Judah, until their iniquity should pass away. 

Hence it is evident why it was ordained, in Deuter- 
onomy, that a wicked man should be beaten with forty 
stripes : it means that he would receive punishment 
for all his transgressions : and, why it is said that 
Moses abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, 
neither did he eat bread nor drink water, praying for 
the people : and also why the Lord was tempted in 
the wilderness forty days ; and why the children of 
Israel were forty years in the wilderness to humble 
them and to prove them. It is by no means certain 
that the Israelites were just forty years in the wilder- 
ness ; or that the Lord was there forty days ; or that 
Moses was praying forty days and nights, on the mount, 
without eating or drinking : for forty means the whole 
time, or all the states of trial they passed through. 



236 THE DELUGE. 

Let us now look into those strange contradictions 
of the literal sQnse, mentioned in this narrative, and see 
how clearly they are removed by the sj)iritual sense. 
In looking back, then, to the time they entered the ark, 
wc behold the people of that age in a state of jDrofound 
darkness and error : their whole mental earth inun- 
dated with falses. In the midst of this general gloom 
and wTctchedness, we see a little band, called Noah and 
his family, hearkening to the new teachings of the 
Lord, and forming a little church. They call this 
church the ark : and they enter into its worship and 
instructions, bringing under its influence all their way- 
ward and various thoughts, feelings and propensities — 
every living creature of their mind and heart ; and they 
feed them there with food from heaven, or with divine 
goods and truths. In this ark or church, they keep 
their falses under, and thus the ark is raised in their 
estimation above their own and the surrounding waters 
of error, until its doctrines rise to the very summit of 
their affections. They truly love them ; the ark rests 
on the Ararat of their hearts — their love to God and 
His truth. 

And we can now understand how it is that the water 
could' continue to rise so long after it had done raining ; 
and also how it could return from off the earth con- 
tinually for 113 days, and yet, Noah then send out a 
dove, and she find the water on the face of the wholo 
earth. It was the earth or mind of the people in the 
ark, upon which the waters or falses thus rose and fell. 
They entered the ark, or came under the doctrines, 
with the waters or falses even over their own moun- 



THE DELUGE. 237 

tains. Their mental eartli was immersed in falses, but 
they had some life left. And the church or ark was the 
means by which they were to get rid of those falses 
and bring their true life into action. They had some 
remains or germs of life that could be quickened by a 
righteous life ; and the ark^ or new doctrines, was given 
for this purpose. They were not aware of the depth 
of their own ignorance and depravity of heart. And 
it was only as they learned to practise and regard the 
new truths which were, at first, merely in their under- 
standings, that they could see their falses of heart. 
For though they had new light in their understanding, 
adapted to their wants, yet it had not shined upon the 
mountains of their will. And, therefore, notwithstand- 
ing it had done raining, or that they had ceased to receive 
falses, yet they were ignorant of the extent of their 
darkness. But as they turned their thoughts inward 
and explored their hearts from externals to internals, 
they progressively perceived the various falses of their 
will. And as they pursued the investigation upwards 
towards the interior or summit of the heart, they still 
perceived that, at every new step or day they took, the 
waters of deceit were there. 

Thus the waters are said to rise, after it had done 
raining, when the rising was all in the perceptions of 
the people of the church. It was only their increasing 
ability to see the deeper and still deeper, or higher ex- 
tent of their falses. The waters were actually there in 
their hearts, when they entered the ark, or joined the 
church, but they had not seen them, and the ark had 
not risen above them. And when, by practising and 



238 THE DELUGE. 

learning to love tlie new truths, they had seen and 
traced the waters of deception up to the very summit 
of their affections, then it was, and not till then, that 
the waters could begin to subside from the uppermost 
pinnacle of the will and let the ark of heavenly truths 
rest upon the top of the mountain of love and good 
will. It could not rest there tiU the waters of deceit 
were removed. They could not be removed till they 
were seen. They could be seen, in the more interi- 
or states of the heart, only as the people came into high- 
er states of perception. These higher states of the per- 
ception of deeper falses are what is meant by the 73 
days during which the waters continued to rise after it 
had done raining, or after they had done practising de- 
ceit. And it was not until they had thus obeyed the 
new truths and truly loved them, or until the ark was 
on the mountain, that they could effectually put away 
their evils and falses. And the returning of the wa- 
ters from off the earth continually, immediately after 
the ark had rested, was the progressive work of purifi- 
cation of the heart from its falses. Thus it was from 
off the minds of the church or the people in the ark, 
and not from those of the world without, that the wa- 
ters were returning continually till ISfoah sent forth the 
dove. And, as they were jpurified and came into states 
of true thoughts and feelings, they felt a sincere regard 
for the salvation of the world of mankind, around 
them, lying in darkness. And they kindly sent forth 
the dove to see if the waters or falses were abated from 
their minds. 



THE DELUGE, 239 

The dove corresponds to the Holy Spirit — the spirit 
of truth and love. This little church then, sent forth 
that gentle Spirit to the world of mind around, to see 
if the darkness of error had subsided, and they would 
accept the truth. But all was still false — dark as 
night. The dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, 
for the waters were on the whole face of the earth. No 
mind could receive the truth. What Christian heart 
that has a new and heavenly truth, has not experienced 
the same thing in his efforts to present that truth to 
other minds ? How often has the gentle dove returned 
unto him into the ark of his own bosom for a place to 
rest her foot ! 

Noah first sent forth a raven — a bird denoting very 
external truth. This flew to and fro in their external 
understandings till their falses had so subsided as to 
receive it. But they could receive nothing higher. It 
was necessary that they should first have the external 
truth. ^^ First that which is natural, afterward that 
which is spiritual.'' 

But Noah, after the return of the dove, v/aited seven 
days, or till they had come into new states of mind 
from the exercise of natural truth : and he sent forth 
the dove again, or offered them the spirit of truth once 
more. But their perceptions were still too dark to re- 
ceive her, and she returned ; and ^^ Lo, in her mouth 
was an olive-leaf plucked off.'' The olive-tree, from its 
oil, denotes celestial love ; the leaf denotes the truth of 
faith from that love. The return of the dove with the 
olive-leaf plucked off, denotes that they could receive 
some little of spiritual truth, or some faith, but could 



249 THE DELUGE. 

not yet receive the love The leaf was plucked off, or 
separated from the tree. 

Noah waited yet other seven days, or for new states 
of mind, and sent forth the dove again, and then they 
received the spirit of truth. Thus the church began to 
spread among other minds. Now, I am aware that 
there are many things in this narrative which I have 
not mentioned ; and about which you are ready to ask 
questions. But remember that there is matter here for 
many sermons. I could glance only at the leading fea- 
tures. And I can only add that all may be rationally 
understood through the science of correspondences : 
that it is a beautiful, clear and comprehensive descrip- 
tion of the fall and regeneration of man. " Forever, 
Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven. The righteous- 
ness of thy testimonies is everlasting : give me under- 
standing and I shall live.'' 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

CAIN, ABEL AND SETH ; CAIN'S WIFE AND THE CITY OF 

ENOCH. 

" And Cain knew bis wife ; and she conceived, and bare Enocb : 
and be builded a city, and called the name of the citj, after the 
name of bis son, Enocb." — (Gen. iv. 17.) 

Perhaps there is no passage in the Holy Word, 
which has caused more surprise, or been more fruitful 
of skepticism and cavil, than that of the text. Com- 
mentators have puzzled their brains over it for naught. 
Volumes have been written upon it to no purpose. The 
question still remains to be asked, by millions. Where 
did Cain get his wife ? or who was she ? And well 
may the candid searcher after truth ask these questions, 
if he looks only to this literal history for an answer. 
For the letter alone clearly and definitely teaches, that 
the human family, at that time, consisted of Adam and 
Eve, and their son Cain. There is no account of any 
more births than Cain and Abel. Who, then, could 
Cain have married ? and who built the city of Enoch ? 
And yet, it appears that Cain was afraid, lest every one 
that should find him would slay him. 

Dr. Adam Clarke thinks that Adam and Eve, at this 

11 



242 CAIN, ABEL AND SETH J 

time, could have had over a thousand descendants. But 
it is very strange, if Adam and Eve had been popula- 
ting the world, that the history should mention the 
names of no daughters, and of only two sons : and 
should mention them in such a way as to incline tlie 
reader to believe that these two children were all they 
had then had. For, with all the suggestions of Dr. 
Clarke and others. Eve still declares that her son Seth, 
who was not born until after Cain had built his city, was 
the successor of Abel and, to all appearance, the third 
child. For she said, at his birth, ^^ God hath appointed 
me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.'' 

But why should we talk of these strange things of 
the letter, when the science of correspondencts removes 
the mystery and opens, to the Biblical scholar, a new 
field of thought ; and either closes the mouth of the 
skeptic, by rational and irrefutable argument, or opens 
it afresh v/ith songs of praise and thanksgiving to God, 
for the glorious truths of His Holy Word. For the 
letter of the history was given solely for the sake of the 
spiritual sense : and when it was written it was under- 
stood ; and men read therein only a history of mental 
things. But, it may be asked, how so deep and obscure 
a science as that of correspondences could have been 
understood, at so early an age of the world ? We 
answer : when this science was first known by man, it 
did not require labor and study to learn and understand 
it, as it now does. When the human mind was in the 
image and likeness of God, it saw things in the light 
of the divine mind. Its thoughts were in the divine 
current. The divine goods and truths fiowed into it ; 



gain's wife and ENOCH. 243 

and it looked down synthetically from causes to effects ; 
and it consec[uently understood analogy. Man saw and 
acted almost instinctively, as a bird builds its nest^ or 
a bee, its cells. He therefore understood the relation 
between mind and matter ; but not in his own wisdom. 
Yet, from his having a selfhood, and being free and 
rational, it appeared to him as though he saw and acted 
from his own wisdom and power. Still he was capable 
of understanding that God was all in all, and he was 
not* obliged to fall. But as he fell into sin, and became 
natural in his thoughts and feelings, he gradually lost 
his high position and his spirituality, until he finally 
became entirely natural and selfish. In this downward 
process, the law of analogy became a mere matter of 
the memory, and the correspondences were no longer 
understood. And then, as the people had lost the true 
light of that science, and as their memory, without that 
light, was unstable, the correspondences, as a matter of 
course, became corrupted, and were gradually lost sight 
of ; and the science became involved in darkness. 

But, for a long time, the wise and learned retained 
that science. And it was their custom and delight to 
compose fables and imaginary histories of natural things 
and events, in consecutive order, for the purpose of de- 
scribing, by analogy, certain mental progressions and de- 
velopments, or changes and movements of the thoughts 
and feelings. In this way, the development of a human 
mind, in all its various and minute changes, from in- 
fancy to old age, could be accurately recorded by com- 
posing, from day to day, a history of the production, 
growth and changes of natural things, carefully adapt- 



244 CAIN; 

ing the history to the mental facts^ by correspondences, 
as they occurred. The first eleven chapters of Genesis, 
or to the call of Abram, are of this class of writings. 
They are pure analogy, in composed history, given by 
our heavenly Father solely for the sake of the internal 
sense. 

The real history of natural things and events com- 
mences with the call of Abram. But this history has 
also an internal sense the same as the other : and many 
things are there said solely for the sake of the spiritual 
sense, and which did not outwardly take j)lace. Bibli- 
cal critics have generally believed in the literal sense, 
after the call of Abram : but the history, before that 
time, has been considered, by some of the wise men of 
all ages, to contain only a hidden sense, and that the 
literal meaning was not to be regarded as teaching nat- 
ural events ; but merely a vessel containing divine 
wisdom within it. Origen says, ^^ Who is so weak as 
to think that God planted a garden, like a husband- 
man, and in it a tree of life, to be tasted by corporeal 
teeth : or that the knowledge of good and evil was to 
be acquired by eating of another tree ? And as to 
God's walking in the garden and man hiding himself 
from Him among the trees, no man can doubt that 
these things are to be taken figuratively and not liter- 
ally.'' Thus speaks Origen. 

That portion of the Bible before the call of Abram 
is much older than the rest, and belonged to the purely 
hieroglyphic age. It was a part of a more ancient Di- 
vine Word, to a more ancient people. It was tran- 
scribed by Moses, by divine direction, and placed at the 



CAIN'S WIFE AND ENOCH. 245 

beginning of the Divine Word^ as the proper introduc- 
tion^ directing ns back to the very beginning of the 
crea'tion of anything and everything ; and embracing 
creation during all time. Thus^ in tracing back sacred 
history, we are lost in hieroglyphics when we reach the 
call of Abram. The letter is no longer reasonable, nor 
in harmony with the truths of natural science. 

But it is not in sacred history alone, that we are so 
lost. We are equally lost in following back profane 
history. What do we know of the world's history dur- 
ing the fabulous and heroic ages ? Cast your eye back 
before the founding of Eome and you are swallowed up 
in myths. Go back only 800 years before Christ, and 
you want an interpreter before you can understand the 
records of that day. Who were the ancestors of Eomu- 
lus ? History declares that he was brought up in the 
woods and fed by a wolf Is this the origin of the 
founder of Kome, the mistress of the world ? Were 
the woods his native place ? And were his companions 
wolves ? The truth is^ profane history is here merged 
in the fogs of fable and symbol ; and no man of this 
age can read that history. 

If we knew what the historian meant by woods and 
wolves, we might tell something of the character of 
the early associates of Eomulus. These things are 
true correspondences. We know that woods denote a 
wild uncultivated state of the mind, and wolf, somethino* 
of the affections ; and from the quality and habits of 
this animal, we might know something of the character 
of the parents and companions of Eomulus, if the 
knowledge and judgment of the historian were reliable : 



246 CAIN^ ABEL AND SETH ; 

but here profane history is swallowed up in mythologi- 
cal mysteries. The science of correspondences had be- 
come so perverted and adulterated, at that age, that 
the true meaning of the writings of that day can never 
be known ; but still that. Oriental literature contains 
much more wisdom than is attributed to it. If the 
ideas were expressed in j)ure correspondences, they could 
now be read by the restored law of analogy. But being 
clothed in the corruptions of that science, much valu- 
able information must be for ever lost to the world. 

Now, to find the truth of the text, and of the sub- 
ject before us, we must bear in mind that the Holy 
Word, from beginning to end, in its spiritual sense, is 
a history of the creation and decline of the church, or, 
in other words, of order and disorder in the human 
mind ; and that this ancient j)ortion of the Word, 
down to the call of Abram has only the spiritual sense 
that can teach wisdom. And therefore, by Adam and 
Eve, Cain, Abel and Seth, as well as all other things 
mentioned, are meant only principles of the mind, and 
not persons and things. 

Now, the church is composed of two kinds of things 
— goods and truths, in great varieties. Goods give us 
God's likeness, and truths. His image. Thus it is the 
church in man that gives him God's image. The church 
is really the man. Without the church there is no 
man. For then, man is not a man, but a beast. The 
creation of the church, therefore, is the creation of 
Man. Adam is the generic name for the whole race, 
males and females. '^ In the day that God created Man, 
in the likeness of God made He him ; male and female 



CAIN'S WIFE AND ENOCH. 247 

created He them ; and blessed tliem, and called their 
name Adam/' (Gen. v. 1^ 2.) By Adam and Eve, Cain^ 
Abel and Seth, are meant things of the chm'ch in the 
human mind. 

And nov/, to clearly see our subject, we must turn 
our eyes away from the people to the church ; to what 
is within the people, and look at the history there ; 
considering all the people, as to their quality, the 
church : the truths of the people, the male element of 
the church, and the goods, the female element ; and that 
every man and woman possesses both of these elements, 
for every one has truths and goods. Truths and goods 
are everywhere treated of in the Word, as male and 
female. Grobdness and truth are the elementary prin- 
ciples of all life from God.* They are of infinite va- 
rieties, and are consequently adapted to all the various 
things in nature ; and they flow from God into all things 
according to their qualities. The influx of these two 
living elements is what gives to all nature the male and 
female principles. 

Truth and good united constitute the church. The 
truth of the first church may properly be called Adam, 
and the good of that church may be called Eve, be- 
cause truth is the male principle and good the female. 
The Lord is called the husband of the church because 
He is all Truth. And the truth wedded to goodness in 
our hearts makes us the bride, because it gives us Gol's 
image, or establishes the church in us. Adam, then, 
means the church, or the world of mankind in order — 
the whole human family before the fall. In distinction 
from Eve, Adam, in the spiritual sense, means the truth 



248 CAIN, ABEL AND SETH ; 

or head of the church, and Eve the good or heart of 
the church. 

Now the church is often spoken of in the Word as 
conceiving and bringing forth. The kingdom of heav- 
en is like seed cast into the ground. This ground is 
the goodness or Eve of the church. And this seed is 
the truth or Adam of the church. The Lord as the 
Word, is the husband of the church as to goodness. 
By Adam is also meant the understanding of the church, 
and by Eve, the will. 

Now the circumstances under which the text was re- 
corded were these : the human family on earth had 
passed out of the garden, or state of happiness, into 
disorder. And they found that something must be done 
to restore harmony and peace among them. To accom- 
plish this object this understanding and this will of the 
people — this Adam and this Eve of the church — set 
themselves to work to devise some doctrine or means 
which they could use for the benefit of the church. 
They needed some rules of life. And they conceived 
and brought forth the doctrine of faith, and called its 
name Cain. Faith was the first begotten of the church. 
They resolved that they would not forget their God ; 
but would believe on Him and acknowledge his suprem- 
acy and laws. But they found that one rule of life 
was not enough. And they brought forth and estab- 
lished another doctrine which wa^ charity ; and they 
called its name Abel. 

Thus, Adam, or the understanding of the church or 
people, in connection with Eve, or the will of the 
church, brought forth and established, for the guidance 



CAIN'S WIFE AND ENOCH. 249 

and government of the community, these two funda- 
mental doctrines or rules of life*— faith and charity — 
called Cain and Abel. These rules taught them that 
they must believe in the Lord and regard His laws ; 
and also love one another and live in peace. In conse- 
quence of the fall, these rules had become absolutely 
necessary for the order and safety of the community. 
Before the fall they needed no such doctrines or rules. 
The people, then, were the direct and orderly recipients 
of God's love and wisdom ; and they acted out those 
principles as by intuition, and yet, as though they 
were their own. But, after the fall, they had to exer- 
cise their reason and judgment. Before the fall, they 
did what they/eZf to be right. After the fall, they had 
to do what they saw to be right. They had eaten of 
the forbidden fruit — the tree of knowledge of good and 
evil. Their eyes or understandings were opened. And 
they had become wise in their own eyes, proud of their 
own wisdom. This brought discord. Each wanted to 
rule. And they were under the necessity of looiiing to 
the Lord, by faith, and exercising the laws of charity, 
in order to make life agreeable. And to accomplish 
this, the church established these two doctrines. They 
now had faith in the Lord and charity towards the 
neighbor. And as long as they regarded these doc- 
trines all went on well, of course. This was the best 
that the Lord could do for them, under the circum- 
stances. 

But, as selfishness increased, some ceased to be satis- 
fied with the life of charity : this was more duty to the 
neighbor than they were willing to perform. And they 

11^ 



250 CAIN^ ABEL AND SETH ; 

gradually reasoned themselves into the belief that faith 
in God was all the doctrine that it was necessary to ex- 
ercise. As long as they had charity, they offered the 
firstlings of the flock, or their best affections to the 
Lord. But the faith of the head began to reason 
against the offerings of the heart, and these people said 
to themselves, It is not- necessary to our salvation to 
love our neighbor : faith in God is far better. We 
need not give away, any longer, the firstlings of the 
flock — our best affections — for an offering ; we want 
them for ourselves. Surely, if we give the fruit of the 
ground, or true faith in the Lord, that will be all-suf- 
ficient. Love to the neighbor cannot save us. Salva- 
tion is of God. We can do nothing. If we believe in 
the Lord, he will save us by that faith. Thus the 
head reasoned against the heart, and the will and the 
understanding became separated. A strong contention 
arose between the judgment and the feelings, or be- 
tween faith and charity, and eventually, the selfishness 
of the natural, earthly man overruled the better feelings 
of the heart, and finally destroyed the love of the 
neighbor. 

Thus Cain, or faith slew his brother Abel or charity. 
The good affections of the heart were destroyed. Faith 
alone was the cold and selfish state of a portion of the 
church. The church was therefore divided into two 
parties. Thus, the Cainites or faith-alone-people, had 
their own peculiar views distinct from those who still 
adhered to the principles of charity. But they w^ere 
unhappy creatures, as all must be who have no true 
love for one another. '^ And the Lokd said unto Cain, 



CAIN'S WIFE AND ENOCH. 251 

Where is Abel thy brother? And he said^ I know not : am 
I my brother's keeper ?'' Thus^ in a reflective moment, 
the Lord as the truth, entered their minds, and they 
said to themselves, Where is my love to the neighbor ? 
They saw and felt their coldness ; and they answered, 
I know not where my charity is gone. And they an- 
swered truly ; for they had ceased to be their brother^s 
keeper. Their love of the neighbor was dead. They 
felt condemned under the light of this truth. They 
saw that they were not what they should be. And, as 
said by the Lord, when they should till the ground, or 
cultivate the mind, it would not yield its strength ; for 
faith without charity can produce no good fruits. The 
mental earth cannot be cultivated by truth without 
goodness. And, in their luminous moments, they saw 
that they were fugitives and vagabonds in the earth, 
and they were fearful of becoming entirely destroyed 
or wretched. 

But the light, which thus showed them their condi- 
tion, did not reach their hearts so as to enkindle benev- 
olence, but only to excite selfish fear. And as the 
truth had failed to call them back to kindness, the next 
effort of the Lord was to keep them from falling lower. 
And He therefore said, ^^ Whosoever slayeth Cain, ven- 
geance shall be taken on him seven-fold.'' Tliat is, 
the Lord told them, by the truth in their minds, that 
if they should destroy their faith in Him, or cease to 
believe in Him, they would be seven-fold more wretched 
than they were then. Their faith still gave them some 
connection with the Lord. There was somethins: liv- 
ing in it. And if they should lose that, then indeed 



252 CAIN, ABEL AND SETH ; 

they would fall into the lowest wretchedness. He who 
disbelieves in a God whom he can love is spiritually or 
mentally most miserable. He has no hope of future ex- 
istence or heavenly joys. All he can see before him, 
when this life ends, is darkness and extinction. And 
even this life loses its brightness and its true delights. 
These Cainites therefore settled down in the doctrine 
of faith alone. They became a portion of the church 
that differed from the main body. And the Lord set 
a mark upon them that they might be known and pre- 
served. That mark was faith. The ensign of the 
church from which they had sprung would he faith and 
charity. Name or mark means quality. Faith was 
the quality or name of the new sect. That was their 
mark of distinction. And so long as they should wear 
that mark — so long as they should have faith — they 
would have some spiritual life. 

But, being without charity, the light of their faith 
in time grew dim and feeble. Thus it is said that Cain 
went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in 
the land of Nod. They receded from the light and 
sunk into a vagabond state. Places denote states of 
mind. Land of Nod, a vagabond state, or a state des- 
titute of goodness and truth. 

The world has been long searching in vain for the 
garden of Eden, the land of Nod, and the city of Enoch 
which Cain built. But, why should they have searched 
this earth for the place where Cain went, when it is 
declared that he was driven from the face of the earth ? 
Indeed it could not be found, as a place^ in the vast 
universe of mind or matter : for it is said to be ^^ out 



CAIN'S WIFE AND ENOCH. 253 

from the presence of the Lord.'' And where is not the 
omnipresent God ? ^^ If I ascend up into heaven, 
Thou art there : if I make my bed in hell, behold, 
Thou art there/' Thus we see that the land of Nod 
must be a state of mind which does not see and love 
the Lord. 

'' And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and 
bare Enoch : and he builded a city, and called the 
name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.'' 
Now, who, or what was this wife of Cain ? Cain was 
a portion of the church or was a society of men and 
women who believed in faith alone. Cain also means 
the faith or the understanding — the male element of 
that body. And the female element is the will or love 
of that body. And as soon as these Cainites had cul- 
tivated a real love of the idea of faith alone ; when the 
feelings of the heart had become fully wedded to that 
sentiment of the head, Cain, of course, had a wife; i. e., 
the will and the understanding were wedded in that 
doctrine. And then followed the birth of Enoch. 
This church of Cain could have offspring as well as the 
church of Adam. Thus these Cainites, through the 
union of their wills and understandings, gave birth to 
a whole system of doctrines of faith alone. Enoch, the 
child born, means these doctrines. This is known, be- 
cause city means doctrines, and name, quality : and it 
is said, they builded a city, and called the name of the 
city after the name of their son, Enoch. The birth of 
Enoch, therefore, is the establishment of these doc- 
trines of faith alone. And the building of the city is 
the arrangement of these doctrines into a system of 
faith. 



254 CAIN, ABEL AND SETH ; 

And now the history goes on, showing the offspring 
of Enoch, and his descendents, called Irad, and Mehu- 
jael, and Methusael, and Lamech, &c. But these are 
only new rules and principles of the church which origi- 
nated in their new system of doctrines. But all these 
new efforts and inventions did not restore order and 
peace to that ancient people. The loss of Abel could 
not be made up by all the devices of the head or faith 
alone. Where charity, the very soul and life of society, 
is wanting, there is a vacuum which nothing can fill. 
And this want was fast pervading the whole Adamic 
people — all the human race of that age. 

Under this state of things, something further must 
be done. Matters could not go on much longer in this 
way, and be endurable. Therefore, it is written that 
^^ Adam knew his wife again ; and she bare a son, and 
called his name Seth : for God, said sJie^ hath appointed 
me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.'" 

Here the general church devised a new doctrine or 
way, which could supply the place of their lost charity 
or Abel. This new son, Seth, or truth of doctrine, 
brought forth by the united wisdom and love of the 
church, was Good Works, This son, Seth, which was 
given by the Lord, instead of charity, was not charity 
itself, if it had been it would have been called Abel. 
But it was given for the purpose of restoring charity 
to the people, for it was given in Abel's stead. And 
the divine object was thereby accomplished. For the 
history says that, to Seth was born a son, and they 
called his name Enos ; and that then began men to 
call upon the name of the Lord. 



CAIN'S WIFE AND ENOCH. 255 

Thus Seth or good works brought forth love to God 
and the neighbor. For to call on the name of the Lord 
is to receive His quality. And this quality includes 
mercy and kindness toward all. Thus we see here veri- 
fied the great truth, taught by our Lord, that, if we 
would enter into life, we must keep the commandments. 
The Adamic church could not stand without the doc- 
trine of works as a basis. When they found them- 
selves rapidly falling, they established the doctrines of 
faith and charity ; and supposed these were rules of 
life enough. But faith and charity cannot stand un- 
less they are ultimated and grounded in works. Unless 
the works of faith and charity are kindly performed, 
Faith will surely slay his brother Charity. 

We now see why Adam gave names to only three 
children. Faith, Charity and Works. It is because he 
was the church ; and faith, charity and works embrace 
everything of the church. They are from the three 
great fundamental principles — Wisdom, Love and 
Power. The doctrine of works is the doctrine of charity 
in action. .And if we are not charitable, but have 
natural faith enough to see that we ought to be so, and 
will then do the works of charity, we shall become so. 
We now see the necessity of protecting Cain or Faith 
after he had slain his brother. For without the natu- 
ral truth of faith, we could not perform good works, 
and thus be brought into the love of the neighbor, and 
thereby obtain charity, and thence true spiritual faith. 

The lesson we draw from this history is twofold. 
First, that, if we cease to give' to God the firstlings of 
our flock, or our best affections, and trust to our own 



256 CAIN, ABEL AND SETH. 

faith, we shall lose our charity, fall into a false and 
lifeless state of mind, and establish ourselves in false 
doctrines : or, what is the same thing, we shall slay 
our brother Abel, remove from the presence of the 
Lord to the land of Nod, marry a wife and build a city. 
And from this deplorable condition we can never be 
removed unless, in the second place, there be born unto 
us, Seth, or good works, and we return to the presence 
of our God, in humble obedience to His commandments. 
Then will brother Abel be restored to our bosom, and 
his blood will no longer cry unto us from the ground. 



CHAPTER XV. 

A GLANCE AT GOD, MAN AND NATUKE, AND THEIR 
RELATIVE CONNECTION. . 

"In the beginning God created tlie heaven and the earth." 
(Gen. i. 1.) 

We are now to take a general glance at the whole 
subject of these lectures — God, Man and Nature, and 
their relative connection, as seen in the divine lan- 
guage. It is a vast theme. We can only glance 
slightly over some of its leading features. 

The subject necessarily commences with God. He is 
the Great Centre, the Fountain from which everything 
else proceeds. But here we must remember that, 
though we commence with the Most High, yet we do 
not see the Summit. That holy Source of all being, 
the infinite Jehovah, as He is in Himself, is beyond the 
reach of the highest finite conception or imagination. 
No rational thought can possibly be had of Him, by 
any man or angel, except as He lets His qualities down 
to our capacities, by clothing them in finite things. 
And then they can be seen only by the science of cor- 
respondences or law of analogy. 

This law is the relation which exists between Him 



258 GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 

and His Works, and His Word and man. In them, by 
correspondences, we look towards Him, and get finite 
but true thoughts of His qualities. For all His 
works are finite. He has never made anything infinite ; 
nor can He : for infinity can neither be added to nor 
created. It is self-existent and all. There can be no 
more. Yet millions of new finite things can be con- 
stantly created from It every moment, for ever, without 
lessening Its varieties or quantity : and all these things 
are pointing, by correspondences, to qualities of the Di- 
vine Being. We may therefore talk about Grod, we 
may use the word ^^ Infinite," but we know not what it 
means. We cannot grasp the full idea it is intended 
to convey. 

Yet, high and holy as Jehovah is Himself, we can 
know of Him. We can feel from his love, think from 
His wisdom, and act from His power. We can reason 
and philosophize upon His qualities and laws, as they 
are symbolized in the innumerable, varieties of the 
qualities, forms and uses of natural things. But with- 
out a knowledge of the science of correspondences and 
of the Holy Word we cannot thus philosophize. We 
can draw no rational idea of God's nature and charac- 
ter from looking into the things of nature and the hu- 
man family on earth, as they appear to any natural 
mind unacquainted with the true Divine Language or 
Word. No matter how strong the man's intellect, 
nor how active and powerful his reasoning faculties, 
nor how extensive and profound his other education, if 
he is ignorant of the law of analogy and of the divine 
Word thereby, he can draw from the world and its in- 



GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 259 

habitants, with all their mixed and contradictory char- 
acters, none but blind and erroneous ideas of the Being 
who brought them into existence. What, he asks, 
mean the tempests and convulsions, the blights and 
mildews of nature ; the raving madness of her animals 
and wild beasts ; the poisonous venom of her reptiles ; 
and the deceit, murder and vengeance of her people ? 
Is this the work of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness ? 
It cannot be ! Thus he reasons. Indeed, the ten- 
dency of the whole scene would be to confound and 
darken his mind, upon the subject of an infinite 
Creator, and to lead it down to blind nature, as the 
self-existent and all in all : thus he would rest in ma- 
terialism ; and suppose that this life would terminate 
his own existence. 

Fallen man can never know himself without instruc- 
tions from his God. Therefore God has always pro- 
vided him with divine laws, for his guidance and im- 
provement, suited to his state. But, in the doctrines 
of the Holy Word, as for many years popularly tau-ght, 
there is universally acknowledged to be much mystery. 
With this want of light, the honest, independent, 
thinkin«: minds of this reason-askino; ao^e, are not satis- 
fied. Therefore they give the Bible up as incompre- 
hensible, and consequently, of doubtful origin and au- 
thority. And having nowhere else to go they fall into 
an honest skepticism. For such minds I have a most 
profound respect and sympathy : for I know their so- 
licitude and suspense. They would be glad of light ; 
but it must be a light which answers the demands af their 
reason and judgment. They can receive nothing else. 



260 GOD; MAN AND NATURE. 

That light God is now, in mercy, offering to them, in 
His Holy Word, through the law of analogy. There 
they will find, as far as they are able to see it, God's 
true and loving character ; and also man's. All dis- 
cords will be satisfactorily explained : the origin and 
nature of evil clearly pointed out ; the infinite mercy 
and goodness of God strongly verified ; and, as they 
progress, God will make darkness light before them and 
crooked things straight. These things will He do unto 
them, and will not forsake them. 

In commencing with God, in this lecture, we have 
rightly regarded Him as 07^e, the Infinite, the Centre, 
the Source. But in that oneness, there is nothing in 
all creation, that fully corresponds to Him. If man 
had never sinned and nothing had been perverted, and all 
things in nature were in true order, the whole universe, 
collectively, would correspond to God, so far. as He 
had manifested His various qualities in the creation of 
angels, men and things. But even that vast whole 
would be but a very imperfect symbol of the Lord, be- 
cause the creation is a continuous work, to go on for 
ever ; and every step presents new principles of the 
divine nature. 

Creeping things, then, are but correspondences of 
principles in God, or in man. And although the va- 
rieties, in God's principles, are infinite, yet they are 
divided into three distinct classes which relate to the 
three divine essentials in God — Love, Wisdom and 
Power. It is therefore to something in these principles 
that every created thing corresponds, either directly or 
indirectly. For the two great, primary elements, are 



GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 261 

Love and Wisdom. Their action is Power. And as 
they produce everything, all unperverted things must 
symbolize something of those elements. The number 
three, therefore, is a full, perfect, and peculiar number: 
it has relation to everything, either in the complex or 
in the particulars. 

It will aid us much, in our general glance at the re- 
lation between Grod, man and nature, by correspond- 
ence, to understand the number ^ Three.' The num- 
ber ' One' denotes God. He is first. Here is the be- 
ginning. And as numbers, with the ancients, signified 
qualities, so number one necessarily denoted God. This 
correspondence has never been fully lost* We speak of 
the first man in town ; or the first scholar in the class. 
But when we turn from individuals to principles, num- 
ber one denotes Xo'^e. Love is the first principlo in ex- 
istence. It is the first principle in God ; and the first 
principle in man. It is the vital spring of all thought 
and action ; it is the very life element. The next 
principle in existence is Wisdom. Wisdom therefore 
is number ^ Two ;' or two denotes wisdom in its rela- 
tion to God. But where now is the one ? We readily 
see that it is involved in the two. As we cannot have 
two things without having one, so neither can we have 
true wisdom without having love. The next principle 
in existence, after love and wisdom, is power. Power, 
therefore, is number three ; or three denotes power in 
its relation to God. But where now are the one and 
two ? They are of course involved in the three. For 
we cannot have three without having two and one. 

This love, wisdom and power then, are inseparable. 



262 GOD^ MAN AND NATURE. 

Love without wisdom could not think. Wisdom with- 
out love could not feel. And the two without power 
could not act. Thus a regenerated man is in the image 
of God. His truth or faith is from God's wisdom ; his 
goodness or charity is from God's love ; and his use or 
works^ is from God's power. Thus the trine in man 
corresponds to the trine in God. And this trine extends 
through every created thing. For no single thing exists 
without having, within it, something from God's love, 
wisdom and power. For, as love, wisdom and power 
are inseparable, so the very life which constantly flows 
from God into every created thing, must contain all 
these elements, in some of their infinite varieties. And 
the love is manifested in the substance ; the wisdom, 
in the form ; and the power, in the use of the thing. 

Thus, God, in His love, wisdom and power, is con- 
nected with every single thing in the vast universe. 
But how ? Through man. The first and highest re- 
ceptacle of God's love is the human will ; of His wis- 
dom, the human Understanding ; and of his power, hu- 
man action. These divine elements, then, before they 
can become the life of the material universe, must pass 
through the minds of angels and men. God is the 
great centre of all being, sending forth the principles 
of life in every direction, as* the sun sends forth his 
beams. Around Him, and nearest to Him, are the 
purest minds ; and the farther a mind is from Him, 
the less pure it is. All are arranged in regular dis- 
tances according to their qualities. Through these 
minds, in orderly succession, the stream of life flows, 
clothing itself, at every step, with the quality of the 



GOD^ MAN AND NATURE. 263 

mind it is traversing^ which adapts it to the state of the 
next. Thus it comes from God, regularly down 
through the various beings, celestial, spiritual and na- 
tural, till it enters men on earth ; they clothe it with 
the quality of their own will and understanding. This 
gives to the lower orders of things, man's nature, which 
makes them correspond to him. Thus there is a regu- 
lar chain of correspondences, or law of analogy, be- 
tween higher things and lower ; connecting them all 
together. Break this chain, and all would be lost. 

But some men say they do not believe in this 
influx ; that it is something new and visionary. Is 
it something new and visionary, that the Lord is 
the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh 
into the world ? that His words are spirit and life ? 
that He ^-giveth life unto the world'" ? Is this some- 
thing new ? What are this light and life which God 
giveth to the world ? They are either substance or 
nothing. If they are not real, spiritual substance that 
can enter the will or understanding, and thus make us 
feel and think, they are nothing but vagaries of the im- 
agination : mere empty phantoms. Indeed, a man 
must know that spiritual life and light are love and 
wisdom, or goodness and truth, before he can have a 
rational thought of what they are. And then, as he 
learns to elevate his thoughts, by correspondences, above 
gross matter, to spiritual things, he will soon be con- 
vinced that this Love and Wisdom are the real Source 
of all substances, and the very elements of Jehovah. 

As this divine love flows into an evil man's will, it 
has, all the way, in its descent from God, through me- 
diums, been clothed in lower and more impure substan- 



264 GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 



ces, until the evil spirits associated with the man adapt 
it to his state. And though the inmost of this influx 
is pure love or life from Grod, yet as its power must be 
acted out through its vile covering, the influence, as it 
goes forth, will be evil. And as it flows from this sel- 
fish, quarrelsome will into the beasts of the earth, it 
gives poison to the serpent's tooth, and contention to 
the dogs for their bones. And so of the influx through 
all other men's minds, according to their various quali- 
ties ; some adapting it to the lambs and doves, some 
to the bears and wolves, and others to all other creatures 
and things : little children being the medium of life to 
lambs. 

Now, from a little reflection, it may be rationally 
seen that this living influx from the Divine Mind, 
must, in substance, be feelings and thoughts. For 
what else can mind give forth ? And when we, in this 
life, give true thoughts and good feelings to a willing 
mind that has not before received them, we know that 
that mind is sensibly affected by them. Again, we 
may rationally see that God's thoughts must be prin- 
ciples of truth, and His feelings, principles of good- 
ness ; and that, in order to take effect, these truths 
must flow into understandings, and these goods into 
wills ; and that these wills and understandings, which 
first receive them from the Lord, must be of a very 
high character, in order to appreciate and use them. 
Thus it is j)hilosophical and rational to believe that 
the order of influx is from higher things into lower. 
And who does not see that every man gives a certain 
caste or coloring to what passes through his mind. It 



GOD, MAN AND NATUBE. 265 

does not go out as it comes in. He puts his own feel- 
ings into it. It partakes of the qualities of the mind 
it passes through. Thus, let Mr. Webster and Mr. 
Clay witness the same event ; and as they describe it, 
it comes from one Websterized, and from the other 
Clayized. 

Now, as man was the sole object of the creation, being 
the only creature endowed with rationality and free- 
dom, whereby he can distinguish between right and 
wrong, good and evil, truth and falsity ; and thence 
be capable of knowing and loving his God, and thereby 
becoming connected with Him, by His goodness and 
truth seen and loved, and thus enjoying heavenly hap- 
piness and living forever ; so, we may rationally see 
that this freedom necessarily gave man the power of 
abusing this liberty and rationality, by an evil life, so 
that his will and understanding would become selfish 
and deceitful, and thereby change the character of the 
Divine Influx, and give to the lower orders of things 
the evil and quarrelsome propensities of men. Indeed 
this is the only rational ground of the origin of evil 
that has ever been suggested. For, upon any other 
. ground, God is the direct Author of it. But, upon 
this true ground, it sprang from the abuse of those 
principles, without which man would be a machine, 
destitute of freedom or reason/ 

To understand our subject, then, we must never lose 
sight of the Trine of first principles and their qualities. 
That is the key to all true knowledge of spiritual 
things. Everything should remind us of it, and point 
us, by correspondence, to God, in His Love, Wisdom 

12 



266 GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 

and Power. God is the life of the universe ; the All 
in all of everything, by means of the trine of essen- 
tials, seen by correspondence. It is only in that one 
great idea, that we can have a rational thought of God. 
It is only in a true idea of the trine, in its united 
substance of love and wisdom in action, that we can 
rationally see God in nature or in man, and know that 
He dwells there. 

By an idea of the trine and its qualities, we, by cor- 
respondence, can see God in the sun, the earth, the 
animal, the tree, the flower ; in anything. To know 
a thing is to know its qualities. The idea of a thing 
amounts to nothing, if that idea contains no thought 
of its qualities : for it then has nothing in it but dark- 
ness and ignorance. What does the idea of life amount 
to if we do not know that it is love, and real substance ? 
Simply, nothing. For a want of substance is a want 
of everything. How long the learned world has puz- 
zled itself over the idea of life, and left the subject as 
dark as they found it, for the want of knowing that it 
was something. But when we think of it as substan- 
tial love, we have something tangible in our thought ; 
something that we can feel to be true. And what can 
we know of thought until we see that it is something 
either true or false, exercised or moved by that love ? 
Indeed we see nothing right, unless our thought reaches 
back to God, and rests in the Fountain — the Great 
First Cause — ^by rational correspondence. 

Without the great truth that love and wisdom are 
substance, centred in God and flowing into man, en- 
abling him to feel, think and act, men have supposed 



GOD; MAN AND NATURE. 267 

that thought and feeling originate in the brain of the 
material body. And seeing not that life is received 
substance all has been dark. And when they look at 
nature^ and behold ber teeming with life^ in all its va- 
rieties ; and have no idea of the origin^ substance and 
quality of that life^ the same darkness hangs over na- 
ture. And when, by the aid of natural science, they 
geologically search nature for the first manifestations of 
this life, and find it, in the mineral kingdom, in the 
most feeble expressions ; it seems to act from the rock 
as its author. They next see it, in a higher and stronger 
influence, in the vegetable ; still higher and stronger in 
the animal ; and highest and strongest of all, in man. 
But the higher things seem dependent upon the lower 
for their life and existence ; and all upon the dead cold 
mineral. Thus nature appears to them as everything — 
the very mother of all — and to which they of course 
must return at death. Here all is total darkness. 
They see not how lower things can produce the higher ; 
the cold dead mineral giving forth the beautiful vege- 
table, with its delicate texture and velvet flowers ; and 
the insensitive vegetable giving forth living creatures 
with the five senses of animal life ; and man, above all, 
with his sublime powers of mind, resting upon these 
inferior things, as his origin. 

Alas ! What darkness ! But this is the best that 
nature can do. Without instruction from Grod, man 
could never know anything higher. But with the 
Holy Word before him, instead of looking down to in- 
ert matter, as the source of his being, he can look up 
to his God, And by a knowledge of Him, in the sub- 



268 GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 

stance and qualities of the trine, a flood of light, by 
correspondence, is poured into his mind. He sees the 
stream of the love, wisdom and power of his God, 
flowing down through higher things into lower, till it 
reaches the mineral kingdom, as a ground of reaction ; 
when it returns hack to God, in the gratitude, love and 
praise of human hearts. 

This trine of principles, in the light of analogy, is 
the key of knowledge. All knowledge is of and from 
God. It is He that breaks the seals and opens the 
books ; and all by this key to His own qualities. From 
these qualities we are to judge of the qualities of every- 
thing, more feebly or more fully expressed in some 
things than in others ; and in either direct or in- 
verted order. Everything charming and lovely in na- 
ture has the trine there. All colors are from heat, 
light and action. ' The heat denoting God's love ; the 
light. His wisdom ; and the action. His power. And 
those divine essentials are really in the colors. And all 
their beauty is from the presence of God. Take God's 
love, wisdom and powder out of the sun and it would be 
dark and powerless. All words are from vowels, con- 
sonants and arrangements. The vowels denote love, 
the consonants, wisdom, and the arrangement, power. 
Thus God is in our speech in every word we utter. 
if the speech be false, His principles are perverted. 
He is also in the feeling, thought and action which 
speak the word, as well as in the word itself All 
music is from tones, sentiments and activities ; deno- 
ting love, wisdom and power. God therefore is in 
q,ll music. Every thought of man has its afiection, its 



GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 269 

idea, and its action. The divine elements are there. 
Every organ of the body or mind has its form, its sub- 
stance, and its use, and points to God's qualities. 
Everything in the universe, below man, has in it some- 
thing from man's love, wisdom and activity ; and, by 
real substance, corresponds to something in man ; and 
also to something in God ; either in direct or in in- 
verted order. 

The highest symbol of God in any one thing, except 
the human mind — the highest symbol of Him in na- 
ture is the sun ; the heat denoting His love, the light. 
His wisdom, and their action. His power. And when 
we consider the sun as corresponding to God, and the 
earth to man, we have a broad field for contemplation, 
and one which throws much light upon the under- 
standing of the Holy "Word. 

Let us glance at the similitude between the earth 
and the mind. The first general division of the earth 
is into land and water : that of the mind into will and 
understanding. The land denotes the good or evil 
ground of the will, and the water the truth or falsity 
of the imderstanding. The land can produce nothing 
without water : nor can the will without the under- 
standing. Goodness can do nothing without truth, 
nor evil without falsity. But even the land and wa- 
ter together can produce nothing of themselves alone. 
They must have the heat and light of the sun. So 
also must the will and understanding of man have the 
love and wisdom of God — the divine influx — or they 
can do nothing. The land and water of the earth de- 
note the will and understanding of the external mind, 



270 GOD^ MAN AND NATURE. 

or the natural good and truth which are in them. To 
be truly alive and productive in heavenly things, this 
natural will and understanding must receive spiritual 
goods and truths from the internal mind. This inter- 
nal mind is represented by the natural heavens, with 
the sun, moon and stars. The sun denoting the Lord, 
the moon, faith in Him, and the stars, knowledges of 
His commandments. 

And how forcibly does the power of these divine 
principles, from our internal mind, operating upon our 
external, correspond to the influence of those heavenly 
bodies, upon the earth, without which it would be ut- 
terly unfruitful. Thus the correspondences between 
the physical universe and the human mind arc every- 
where, most perfect, not only in generals but in par- 
ticulars. And it is necessarily so, because the elements 
of the human mind are the living elements of the uni- 
verse, by regular influx : — first God, then man, then 
nature : Man the connecting link between God above 
him, and Nature below him : Man having two minds 
— an internal and an external — one connecting him with 
God and heaven, the other with the earth and nature : 
Nature the mirror of man, in which he may see re- 
flected, every quality of his soul, to the very life : and 
God, in His Holy Word, holding that mirror up before 
our face, in every page, from Genesis to Eevelation, 
showing us thereby, a full-length portrait of humanity 
in its creation, its fall, and its regeneration. And the 
particular character of each individual, from infancy to 
his present moment ; and even his future path which 
will make him either an angel or an evil spirit; is also 



GOP^ MAN AND NATURE. 271 

clearly delineated. He sees clearly which, way to go 
and what to do ; and that, in legible characters^ im- 
perishable words J written by the eternal law of anal- 
ogy. So full and perfect is this delineation^ that a 
man well versed in the science of correspondences and 
a knowledge of the Word, and filled with the spirit of 
Jesus, will yet look upon the page of nature, in the 
light of analogy, and read therein, his soul's history 
written by his own hand, recorded by his own life, 
in all its lights and shades, whether good or evil. If 
he sees two animals fighting, he will know whether it is 
through his disposition that they are stimulated to 
quarrel. If he loves to see them fight his own soul is 
in the combat. 

These are the glorious truths which will yet lift the 
veil from human hearts and minds ; bring the world to- 
gether in wisdom and love ; break the shackles from 
every heart ; banish discords from all bosoms ; open 
every prison door ; loose every captive ; discharge all 
jailors and hangmen ; do away with courts and juries; 
make every man a judge and a peace officer, with a juris- 
diction extending over all his own life and conduct, sub- 
mitting himself, with gladness and delight to the divine 
government, in all those precious golden rules of life, 
which fill the soul with love to Grod and good will toward 
men. Then will the knowledge of the Lord cover the 
earth, as the waters cover the sea ; tears will be wiped 
from off" all faces; the kingdom of God will be here; and 
His Will will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

THE RESTORATION OF THE SCIENCE OF CORRESPOND- 
ENCES. 

" Beholdj I make all things new." (Rev. xxi. 5.) 

Our present tlieme is the way and manner in which 
the long lost Science of Correspondences has been re- 
stored^ and thereby, the spiritual sense of the Word 
and the life of its doctrines, revealed. 

1863 years ago, when our Lord made His appearance 
in the flesh, human nature was at its lowest state of 
sin and depravity. To this wretched condition the race 
had gradually fallen, during thousands of years, from 
a state of innocence and virtue in the garden of Eden. 

In his highest primeval condition, man's mind was in 
true order. He saw from internals to externals. He 
saw effects from the causes which produced them. He 
saw the world of matter as an outbirth from the world 
of mind. In seeing this, he saw that a perfect analogy 
existed between material and mental things. He 
therefore saw the qualities of the thoughts and feelings 
of God and man perfectly represented in the material 
forms around him. He saw that material things could 



EESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 273 

not possibly exist but as the effects of will and wisdom 
from above ; and that, therefore, they must be true 
manifestations of that will and wisdom. 

In all this, he saw the true language ; the divine lan- 
guage ; the hieroglyphic language ; the only universal 
language ; the first written language ; the only undis- 
guised and certain expression of thoughts and feelings. 

But, in this clear preception of things, man had but 
a mere shade of will and thought of his own. He felt 
and saw, almost exclusively, from the divine love and 
wdsdom. His mind was but little else than a mere un- 
developed vessel, receiving goodness and truth from the 
Lord, and giving them forth in feelings and thoughts. 

Yet he had a selfhood given him, that he might be 
something more than a mere machine : for, without this 
selfhood, he would have been incapable of progress and 
rational enjoyment ; therefore he would not have been 
a man. The essence of this selfhood was rationality 
and freedom ; reason to determine, and freedom to act, 
as a distinct individual. 

In consequence of this selfhood, it appeared to man 
as though the wisdom and love by which he saw and 
acted were his own ; but he was also capable of under- 
standing that this will and wisdom were not entirely his 
own, but were principally the Lord's. The truth is, 
this selfhood gave him a will and understanding as his 
own ; but, in this intuitive condition, this will and un- 
derstanding were in perfect harmony with the divine 
love and wisdom, and acted with them. Yet it ap- 
peared to man as though he were thinking and acting 
entirely from his own free-will. 

12^^ 



274 RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 

This selfhood, therefore, necessarily made man free to 
reason and act, either as from his own will and wisdom, 
or as from the Lord's ; and, as it seemed to him that 
he felt and acted entirely from himself, his selfhood 
made him capable of using the Lord's love and wisdom 
as his own, and of falling, by habit, into the selfish 
belief that they were really his own, and that he was 
perfectly competent to manage his own affairs himself. 
Therefore, in the ability to look to the Lord, and pro- 
gress upwards, was the ability to look to himself, and 
decline into evil. Man was free to take either course. 
He took the latter. Hence the long progressive fall, 
from the primeval age to the coming of the Lord in the 
flesh. 

In this downward process, man lost the divine lan- 
guage, founded on the science of correspondences ; and 
with it he lost all true knowledge of the world of causes, 
or of the laws of creation, and the relation between 
mind and matter. He entirely lost his internal stand- 
point, where he could see in unison with God's wis- 
dom ; and he took his position in the dark, sensual de- 
pravity of the external mind, where he saw things, not 
as they really were, but only as they appeared to be. 
Thus everything in his nature had become perverted. 
He saw himself as the very centre of all being, and 
the universe as the circumference ; and thus he was 
about to perish for the want of light and life. 

In this state of things, our heavenly Father, that He 
might restore man again to order and true life, came 
and took his central position again in our nature. He 
took upon Himself; by conception and birth, human 



RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 275 

nature, in the omega, as it then was. He became again 
the centre, and that humanity, the circumference. Still, 
that humanity, as assumed, had a will not in harmony 
with the divine will. It still had its own centre in the 
circumference of things, and its natural inclination was 
to look and act from that apparent centre. But, by 
its connection with the Great Divine Centre, it was 
enabled gradually to change its position, and to see 
from the divine will and wisdom. 

This was eflfected by its yielding up its own will to the 
divine will, in the midst of temptations and trials, until 
everything in that nature which was impure and un- 
godly was seen by that nature in the divine light, as not 
good, and freely rejected, and put away. Thus that 
nature, by free-will and consent, became perfected and 
glorified, and made one with the Father ; the whole 
having one will, and that will divine — the very Centre 
of all existences. 

Thus, having conquered and overcome all evil influ- 
ences in our nature and come near to us in the letter 
and spirit of the gospel, the Lord was able to reach and 
draw all men toward Him, who would yield to the influ- 
ence of the truth of His Word. But men were then 
so low, sensual, and natural, that they could not re- 
ceive spiritual truth. They could not be at once ele- 
vated into the spiritual light of causes, where they 
could look down again upon effects, and see them in 
their true light. They had, therefore, to be reached in 
the circumference where they were. Here they could 
be reached only by natural truth and good ; and to ef- 
fect even this, they had to be overawed by the power 
of the Lord's miracles, and forced into an assent and 



276 RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 

submission to things whicli tliey did not understand. 
But by their faith in the power of the Lord^ and obe- 
dience to His commandments, they, by actual experi- 
ence, gradually saw and felt the truth and goodness 
arising from righteousness of life, repented of their nat- 
ural evils, and, in their degree, became regenerated. 

Some of the disciples appear to have had, at times, 
glimpses of higher light ; but they could not retain it, 
and the simple letter of the Word — the natural truth 
— was all that they could bear. But it is very certain 
that some of the most spiritually-minded of the disci- 
ples and early fathers of the church were sensible that 
there must be some higher meaning to the Word than 
the letter ; but the subject was so new, so high, and so 
vast, that their natural state could not receive it. The 
Christian church, therefore, settled down upon the lit- 
eral sense of the Word, with wholesome doctrines 
drawn therefrom ; and all who have sincerely received 
these literal truths, faithfully repented of their sins, 
and regulated their lives by the commandments, 
through faith in the Lord, have found their way to 
happiness and heaven. 

But, not being able to receive spiritual truths, this 
state of things did not last, as the Savior declared that 
it would not. The dark ages came on. The church 
declined in doctrines and in life. '^ The traditions of 
men made the commandments of God of none eifect.'' 
Schisms and division ensued, carrying martyrdom, 
bloodshed, fire, and fagot in their train, until the 
people were anything else than the followers of the 
meek and lowly Jesus, loving their enemies, and ren- 
dering good for evil. 



RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 277 

This crisis was reacTiecl about one hundred years ago ; 
and the Lord declares of it in Matt. xxiv. 22^ that 
^' except those days should be shortened, there should 
no flesh be saved.'' Under this state of things, what 
could be done ? The true nature of God had been lost 
sight of, and the true way of life. All the doctrines of 
the Word were falsified. How could man be reached ? 
Nothing short of an entire new light, differing in toto 
from anything the world then had, could elevate the 
race. They wanted a new God, a new Bible, new doc- 
trines, and new truths, before they could be moved one 
step upwards. And yet all the needed, new life, and 
light, and doctrines were in the old Bible before them ; 
but they could not see them. 

But, though they had been becoming blind to the 
true light of the gospel, yet men had been making rapid 
progress in natural science. Their natural faculties, 
and powers of reasoning, had become greatly developed; 
and many were becoming prepared to look for some ra- 
tional ground of religious faith. Nothing else could 
now reach their wants. Human nature had grown up 
to natural manhood. Its intellectual eyes, in the nat- 
ural plane, were opened ; and it was asking for light 
in matters of religion as well as science. Marvel and 
mystery could no longer satisfy or control the free mind, 
and there w^ere some living remnants in fragmentary 
Israel who were hungering and thirsting for something 
to satisfy the longing soul. But they knew not what 
it was, nor where to find it. The period had, therefore, 
fully come, when something new must be done, and 
when something new could be done. 



278 RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES, 

There were minds now that could begin to receive the 
spiritual sense of the Word^ if it could only be brought 
scientifically before them. This sense was the only 
thing that could lead their thoughts to the true God, 
give them right views of His nature, and faith in His 
Holy Word. The lost Science of Correspondences was 
the only key to that spiritual sense that would fit their 
minds. If that science could be brought rationally 
before the minds of men, so as to enable them, from 
their low, natural position, to look understandingly up 
through the world of effects to the world of causes — 
through natural things to spiritual, material to mental, 
— so as to see and receive spiritual light from the Holy 
Word, then the human race on earth could be gradu- 
ally elevated to heavenly order and happiness ; other- 
wise man must perish. ^^ Except these days should be 
shortened, no flesh should be saved.'^ 

By the use, then, of the key of correspondences, the 
seals of the Word could be broken, and the Book 
opened. But who was able to do it ? None but the 
^^ Lion of the tribe of Judah could prevail to open the 
Book, and loose the seals thereof.'' The seals were all 
in the human mind. It was sealed with seven seals ; 
that is, every state of the human mind was closed 
against spiritual light. Man was altogether natural. 
But there were some minds in a religious state of nat- 
ural good, and in such a state of natural-rational free- 
dom as to be able to have their minds opened by in- 
struction from the Lord, so as to see spiritual light 
through natural symbols, could they be so instructed. 

But how was this mighty work to be done ? How 



KESTORATION OF CORRESPODENCES. 279 

was the human mind to be opened and instructed^ so 
as to behold the wonderful things written in God's law ; 
to see the glory of the world of causes, and to look 
down upon effects, and see them as they really are ? 
There was but one way to do it ; and that was for a 
man to take the Holy Word, give it his supreme time 
and attention, and work out its wonderful problems 
step by step ; proving every operation, as he went 
along, by the truths of the Word itself, looking to the 
Divine Master for instruction. Thus the mind, in this 
new study, would have to be as gradually opened, en- 
lightened, and expanded, in spiritual science, as minds 
are naturally in the pursuit of natural science. 

But a mind, to do this work, must be a mind in a 
state of strong natural truth and good. It must be a 
mind possessing rational and imwavering faith in the 
Lord, in the divinity of the Word, and in the work be- 
fore him ; a mind humble, prayerful, open, and confid- 
ing towards the Lord. But where was the mind to be 
found competent to the task of going to this Fountain 
of wisdom, working out its spiritual problems, and 
spreading out before the world a clear and satisfactory 
solution of the work, proved and authenticated by the 
Divine Truth itself .? 

Emanuel Swedenborg was the man, in the Divine 
Providence, for this work. But what peculiar qualifi- 
cations had he for entering upon a study so high and 
heavenly ? From his youth, his training and educa- 
tion had prepared his mind for just such a work. With 
always a conscientious regard for the Bible, and a love 
of truth and virtue, he had mastered all the human 



280 RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 

literature of the age ; deeply investigated the laws of 
matter in the mineral, vegetable, and animal king- 
doms ; had traced the economy of the human body up 
to the soul, and nature up to God ; and had rationally 
seen something of the relation between mind and mat- 
ter, and the laws of creation. In this way, his natural 
mind had become a sincere and open vessel, adapted to 
the reception of spiritual truth ; and his active soul 
was thirsting for something higher, and looking up to 
receive it. And thus, at the mature age of fifty-five 
years — ripe in natural goodness and tiruth, and in sci- 
entific and literary wisdom — he was prepared to enter 
upon the divine study of the Holy Word in its spirit- 
ual sense. 

This study rationally opened his mind to the laws of 
the spiritual world ; so that he gradually came, while 
in the flesh, into a state of free, open, and sensible 
consciousness of spiritual society and scenery, and this 
by a process of such perfect mental growth and devel- 
opment, according to divine order, that, when his spir- 
itual senses had become clearly opened to the spiritual 
world, they were permanently so ; because his views of 
that world were not surface and uncertain views, pre- 
sented from a disordered or inflated imagination, but 
they, were scientific views. He saw and understood the 
law by which spiritual forms are manifested, and this 
law he found in the Holy Word. It is the Science of 
CoRiiESPONDENCES, in which the Word is written, and 
which he labored to make known to the world ; and, in 
the ardent exercise of this benevolent desire to give it 
freely to his fellow-man, his soul was rationally opened 
to receive it from the Lord. 



RESl^OKATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 281 

Twenty-nine years of intense application were de- 
voted to this work^ in which he presented to mankind 
twenty massive volumes, opening and expounding the 
Sacred Scriptures, and specifically recording his illus- 
tiations, and the Science of Correspondences by which 
they are explained. This he did in the most modest 
and quiet manner, without any startling miracles or 
outward displays of power, but in a deep, calm, and 
contemplative state of mind ; looking prayerfully and 
confidingly to the Lord while reading the Word. 

In this way, the Science of Correspondences, and the 
sj)iritual sense of the Word and its doctrines, have been 
presented to the world. But who has done it ? Cer- 
tainly not Swedenborg, but the Lord Himself. Swe- 
denborg never, in all these volumes, gives us so much 
as a single opinion of his own upon the meaning of the 
AVord or its doctrines, or of the Science of Correspond- 
ences ; but the illustrations are so given as to make 
the Word itself its own interpreter. It is the Lord, 
therefore, and not Swedenborg, that speaks to the heart 
and the head of the reader of these volumes. Yet 
Swedenborg was not inspired. He acted not as an 
amanuensis, as did the prophets. He freely saw and 
understood what he wrote. He knew it was true ; but 
he knew, also, that it was not, one particle of it, his 
own wisdom ; and he was far from claiming it. 

These twenty volumes, therefore, in their explana- 
tions of the Word and its doctrines, become to the un- 
derstanding reader positive and conclusive evidence of 
their own truth and the truth of the Holy Word. They 
call in an array of testimony which carries everything 



282 RESTORATrON OF CORRESPONDENCES. 

before it. They call our own internal selves and expe- 
rience on to the stand, with all our evils, and all we 
know of human nature, and make them cry out, Amen ! 
They call in to their support all the truths of science 
and art. Indeed, they call in everything, — the vast 
universe of mind and matter, and the law of analogy 
between them. Everything in nature, from the small- 
est dust of the earth to the sun in the heavens, bears 
testimony in these volumes to the truth of the Word, 
and the divinity of its Author ; proving, beyond a 
doubt, that the Creator of the universe is the Author 
of the Holy Word ; that the spiritual truths of the 
Word are the Divine Wisdom by which. God created 
and sustains the universe ; and that the universe now 
stands in relation to that wisdom, as effects to causes. 
All this is satisfactorily proved by the law of analogy 
which, pervades the whole Word. Man therefore rests 
in the evidence of these volumes, as God's own testi- 
mony of the truth of His Word ; for by them the 
Lord opens the seals of every mind that reads and un- 
derstands them : and as man turns from his evils, and 
yields his heart to this light, the Lord gradually puri- 
fies and elevates his thoughts and feelings above false- 
hoods and evils to heavenly light and life. 

What a vast work this Science of Correspondences, 
and the consequent influent spiritual light from the 
Word, have laid out before them ! It is nothing less 
than the entire revolutionizing of the whole mental 
world on earth, and the restoring of all things to order, 
— an entire change of all man's views of God, of man, 
and of nature ; placing man in an entirely new posi- 



RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 283 

tion, where he will see with new eyes and in a new 
light^ andj by obedience^ will learn to feel with a new 
heart. 

The starting point in this elevation is a true thought 
of God — some ray of light from the Great Divine 
Centre into the rational faculty, presenting some true 
idea of God's nature and character. In the light of 
this idea, presented to man's rational consciousness, 
lies the whole revolutionizing power. As we read the 
Holy Word in the light of this idea, that light bright- 
ens and expands into the Sun of Eighteousness, and 
becomes, indeed, the Jehovah God ; and we then see 
Him to be Love, Wisdom, and Power, in union as a 
whole. And we see this Love, Wisdom, and Power 
ever going out from the centre of the universe, creating, 
sustaining, and giving life to everything. We see in 
this divine character no change or shadow of turning, 
but infinite and equal mercy towards all. 

In this divine light, the Holy Word presents us with 
a new Author, and with new doctrines, differing in 
every particular from those entertained by liiankind a 
hundred years ago. Indeed, then, does the Lord, at 
His second coming, '' make all things new.'' He 
makes us see all His own creations and doings to be 
good, and all evil as springing from man : therefore we 
see man falling and going astray, and God following him 
up to save him. But, as we see that man could not 
fall without the free exercise of his own will and judg- 
ment, so also we see that he cannot rise without their 
free exercise. God gives to man the power to turn 
from his evil way, and live. This power is in the 



284 RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 

truth which man sees. The starting-point in this 
change is the truth so presented to his mind that his 
own free-will and judgment tell him that the thoughts, 
feelings and actions in which he is indulging are wrong, 
and lead to misery and death. The regenerating power 
that this truth really contains is in the light that it 
brings of Grod's true nature, telling us we must be like 
Him, and that in Him is our only dependence and help. 
This light the Science of Correspondences everywhere 
forcibly presents to view in the Holy Word. Hence 
the regenerating power of the Lord at His second 
coming. 

The Science of Correspondences keeps God^s glorious 
and merciful character before us in every page of the 
Word, and it shows us what is meant by everything 
that the literal sense seems to present of Him of a dif- 
ferent character. It shows why the Word was so writ- 
ten, and the use ; and both senses become thereby per- 
fectly harmonious. Thus we see that the literal truth 
of the Word flowing into an angry man's mind, pre- 
sents the merciful God to him as angry : just as the 
light which falls upon a crooked and imperfect mirror 
reflects a beautiful face as distorted and ugly. The 
anger is in the man, as the imperfection is in the glass. 
The bad man looks at the truth which condemns him, 
as his enemy ; when it is really his friend in eff*ort to 
save him. 

Thus the Lion of the tribe of Judah, according to 
prophecy, has prevailed to open the Book, and loose 
the seals of God's Holy Word ; and has mercifully 
given to the world the Divine Science of Corresponden- 



RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 285 

« 

ces — the grand key wliich opens the door to that foun- 
tain of wisdom which is to bring the world into order. 

These twenty volumes^ with the Holy V/ord which 
they open^ will yet stand before the world as the great 
test by which the truth or falsehood of every new sys- 
tem, creed, or practice^ which may spring up in this 
fruitful age of wonders, will be tried. All sects and 
parties will yet come to these volumes, and the Divine 
Word, for light ; and their decision will be peremptory 
and final : for there will be found nothing substantial 
upon which to base an argument against them. They 
will be regarded as the Great Universal Body of Di- 
vinity, the true standard of all wisdom, the basis of all 
law and order. Nothing can supplant them ; for they 
centre everything in God. Nothing can rise above 
them ; for they give to God the highest excellence. 
No truth can oppose them ; for they are the fountain 
and embodiment of all truth. The doctrines they pre- 
sent are one harmonious whole, with Jesus in the 
midst. Their tendency is to show man his sins in such 
a light as to convince him that they are his certain de- 
struction, and then to show him how to get rid of 
them in a way so plain that he cannot mistake it. This 
is their universal tendency, and in this great work they 
must in due time succeed ; purifying, regenerating, 
and making happy, the whole human family on earth. 
What this due time will be, no one can tell. The race 
was many thousands of years in falling from the alpha 
of its existence in the Garden of Eden, down to the 
omega of our nature at the divine incarnation. It may 
take as many thousands of years to bring us up to full 



286 BESTOKATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 

millenial life and glory : but the movement must ever 
be with accelerating force and influence ; for its sphere 
is amid free and active minds, first enlightening the 
understanding, and then gaining the heart. And all it 
gains it holds forever. And its final success is certain : 
for the Lord declares of it, that '^ God shall wipe away- 
all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more 
death, neither sorrow nor crying.'' — " And there shall 
be no more saying, every man to his neighbor. Know 
ye the Lord ; for all shall know Him, from the least 
unto the greatest : for the mouth of Jehovah hath 
spoken it/' 



THE END, 




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